Originally Posted by BF263533

The close country relationship relates to a series of wars where bonds were built and continued fairly intact until this day. Vietnam War & US bases in Thailand. WWII. Cold War. Phillippines being a US territory as a result of a war. Tensions still exist with China & Russia, and as the generation from WWII dies out so do the bad memories of Japan and Germany. As time goes by the affection for Vietnam increases as the memories of the Vietnam War fades. When I visited Vietnam on two occasions I just could not understand how the US could have bombed such friendly people who were always so gracious. I was lucky enough that my draft number was high enough that I did not have to face the chance of being drafted to fight in Vietnam.