For U.S. Navy Commander In Vietnam, A Return Home

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STEVE INSKEEP, host:

And we have another story, this morning, about making peace with the past. Two American warships visited Danang, Vietnam this weekend. Its the latest in a series of goodwill visits. The port call had special meaning for one U.S. naval officer. Hes 39 years old. Hes Vietnamese American. He fled the country by boat in 1975. NPRs Michael Sullivan reports from Danang.

MICHAEL SULLIVAN: Many Vietnamese who fled the communist takeover have returned as visitors since, but none of them as commander of a U.S. guided missile destroyer, one making port in the same city where U.S. combat troops first came ashore in Vietnam in 1965. The symbolism wasnt lost on Commander H.B. Le of the USS Lawson as he spoke to reporters peer side.

Commander H.B. LE (U.S. Navy; Commander, USS Lawson): I thought that one day I would return to Vietnam, but I thought that that would be perhaps later in my life. I really didnt expect to be returning as the commanding officer of a Navy warship.

SULLIVAN: Commander Le returned to Vietnam the same way he left: by sea - his return much more pleasant than his departure as a five-year-old boy in 1975 crammed into a small ship with some 400 others.

Commander LE: We were certainly low on fuel, running low on water. We left on April 30th. And on May 2nd, which was my younger brothers first birthday, we were picked up by the U.S. Navy ship.

SULLIVAN: Commander Les family eventually settled in Northern Virginia, and that five-year-old boy went on to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy and command the USS Lawson, his ship at anchor in Danang Harbor not far from the naval base his father commanded as a South Vietnamese naval officer during the war.

They didnt talk much about the war when H.B. Le was growing up, which made his trip back to Vietnam even more poignant, when he traveled to the nearby city of Hue to visit members of his extended family.

(Soundbite of crowd chatter)

SULLIVAN: There are smiles, hugs and handshakes all around as he visits the familys ancestral home where eager relatives - some remembered, some not -tell him all about his family and about another naval man from the distant past.

Unidentified Man: (Foreign language spoken)

SULLIVAN: And uncle pulls Commander Le aside and says hes following not only in his fathers footsteps, but those of his great-great-great-great grandfather, who it turns out was an admiral during Emperor Nguyens rein. Its a connection Commander Le knew nothing about until just before he arrived, something confirmed, but not volunteered by his father via email.

Commander LE: One of the many things he really didnt talk about when we were growing up. I think perhaps the memories of Vietnam and Hue are so powerful and sad for him that he didnt talk very much about it.

(Soundbite of crowd chatter)

SULLIVAN: Across town, more relatives and more hugs for Commander Le at his grandfathers house, his picture and that of his ship proudly displayed on one wall. An older brother, one of four siblings left behind in 1975, helps Commander Le keep track of all the relatives and how to greet them. The brother was allowed to leave Vietnam in 1983 and is now a banker in Singapore. Both men break into smiles as they see another photo on the wall from 1962. There arent many like it back home in Virginia.

Commander LE: This is my grandfather and my grandmother, my dads parents. Thats my dad. Thats my mom. Thats my dads brother and his wife. They were young.

SULLIVAN: Theyre not so young anymore. And while his mother has come back several times, his father, who Commander Le calls his hero, still refuses - a reminder that the past still colors the present in the minds of many who fought the war.

But not for Commander Le. When he first arrived on Saturday, I greeted him with a welcome home, and he hesitated as if he wasnt sure. After his visit to Hue, though, things were different.

Commander LE: I think welcome home, that was right. You know, America is still home to me, of course, but Hue is - has a very special place in my heart.

SULLIVAN: But another reminder of the past came after the U.S. ships arrival in Danang, where their official welcome was delayed because the Americans refused to fly the Vietnamese flag on the halyard of their command ship, the USS Blueridge. U.S. ships had done so on previous visits. The Vietnamese insisted they do so this time. The Americans refused.

The Vietnamese wouldnt budge, and for a time, at least, it seemed the visit might be scuttled. The Americans eventually relented. The flag went up, though if you looked carefully, it was clearly about a foot lower than the American flag on the other side. Its hard to imagine the Vietnamese didnt notice, but if they did, they were gracious enough to keep it to themselves.

Michael Sullivan, NPR News.

INSKEEP: And youre hearing Michael on MORNING EDITION from NPR News.

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