Partnering with Vietnam

Its a touchy subject to be sure, but Fayetteville NC's mayor has proposed a partner city with Soc Trang Vietnam. Old wounds have been reopened, animosity is unleashed.
To our soldiers who fought there, I can say you did your very best. You had to over come opposition at home, a less then supportive congress, traitors among the populace, and your own fears. In Vietnam there was gurilla insurgency, a less then suportive populace, and much more. You did what soldiers do, and won the battles. In every action where you faced a force willing to fight, you won. You are all indeed heros.
But what of Vietnam? The people there were tired of war. It had raged for decades. Both sides were corrupt, both sides lied stole, and killed. In their eyes, there was no good guy or bad guy, just two evil forces. They could not know the true evil of communism.
Several of the commenters on the article from Yahoo, made insightful statements about present day Vietnam and their attempts at a free market system and how the people there live today.
Our politicians abandoned them in 1973, but by 1984 they were seeing how bad communism as an economic system was. maybe our politicians can learn something, I doubt it. I still ove the people of Vietnam. True I did not fight there, I was too young. I believed in our effort, and especially in our soldiers. I have met many refugees from Vietnam. They are good people.
Every nation in the world has good people, make no mistake. many just have poor and evil leaders. Some times we have poor and evil leaders as well. Thankfully we have a voting booth that still works, or at least did in 2004.
For my two cents, partner with Vietnam. Our people here, today, can by economic and educational means win the fight the cowards in congress abandoned in 1973. We can yet make a statement so that 58,236 American men and women will not have died in vain, and another 1,740 missing will not be lost to history. and lest we forget, communism killed 643,000 South Vietnamese after we left.