Now that it is open for tourism, I am thinking about traveling to Viet Nam. I was wondering if any veterans have visited the country since the war, how they felt, and what their reactions were to seeing the places where they had been stationed.

I'm sure there are Vietnam veterans' associations who'd have this info at their fingetips. When we were in Vietnam in 2001 we saw a hospital near the site of the My Lai massacre that had been built with funds raised by American vets. Certainly many Australian vets have visited, and in many cases had a beer or three with Viet Cong and NVA vets - in fact I saw a news item on TV only last week to that effect.

I have worked with a number of VN vets who returned to VN. Their reactions were widely varied, some found it healing, others found it exacerbated their PTSD. All described it as an intense experience.

It was my husband's idea to travel to Vietnam. He was there in the mid 60s therefore I couldn't understand why he'd want to go back. He enjoyed it immensely. He actually took ME to the war museum and he did not seem upset at all. He's never really spoken much about those experiences except that he always remembered the vietnamese as very friendly and gentle people. We had a truly wonderful experience. We'd love to return, this time see more of the country.

Wanda,

Thanks for the reply. I wanted to hear the reaction from vets who had been there during the war. No one I served with in the late 60s has PTSD and we really don't feel anything against the Vietnamese (although none of us can still stand Jane Fonda). My concern was over how it felt to be in places where people were lost. I would really like to see the country again, in peace, but just wasn't sure how it would feel to be there.

He was in the infantry in the central highlands in the mid-60s. He was there! He's in Baghdad right now, I'll see if he will post something here for you regarding his feelings.