VietNamNet Bridge - From the story of Vietnam, the world can hope that enemies can become friends one day. With its experiences on the journey of reconciliation, Vietnam can become a messenger of peace, playing an intermediary role in solving conflicts between nations today.

HCM City people welcome US president Obama.

When the local media asked US President Barack Obama “During your tenure, you have traveled to more than 50 countries and Vietnam is your last destination before leaving the White House. What is the position of Vietnam in the US foreign policy?” The US President replied: "I wanted to go to Vietnam a long time ago, but there is a saying ‘Save the best for last".

For the Vietnamese people, perhaps the best thing that Vietnam gave him is the image of a tolerant and warm nation.

It is certain that President Obama felt the sentiment of Vietnamese people for him when he saw tens of thousands of people in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City standing along the road to welcome his motorcade. They waved their hands to him and filmed every moment of his motorcade on their cellphones, with big smiles on their faces. Millions of Vietnamese people expressed their feelings to the US President, and shared thousands of articles and pictures about him on social networking sites.

Besides the warm sentiments of the Vietnamese people, the US President witnessed the warm reception of the four leading leaders of the Party and State of Vietnam, 100 representatives of the community of young entrepreneurs  and 600 members of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI), and more than 2,000 intellectuals, entrepreneurs, and students of Vietnam.

Why was Obama loved by Vietnamese people? Le Quoc Vinh, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Le Group, a major media firm in Vietnam, explained that people will care about the policies and actions that bring about practical benefits. The Vietnamese people in general think high of sentiment. US President Obama was willing to visit a popular restaurant, shake hands with ordinary people, take photos with Vietnamese young people in the rain ... These gestures can easily touch the heart of Vietnamese people.

So there is no other country in the world where President Obama was warmly welcomed as in Vietnam. The US President had to say in his speech: "Your kindness has touched my heart."

After the twenty-year war, the two countries Vietnam – America’s enmity would have been a death-feud but today they could share the words from a song by Van Cao “From now, we know each other’s homeland; from now, we learn to feel for each other” and share the lesson by Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh “In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change.”

Vietnam, a country devastated, suffered many losses from the war caused by the US. It has the desire, the will to rise with a big heart and great tolerance toward the country that created their pain. With the sentiment of the Vietnamese people for President Obama, Vietnam deserves to become a symbol of reconciliation, for a world of peace, security and happiness.

The bridge between Vietnam – the US is the values of humanity, which originates from the people. Life is impermanent, nothing is permanent. From the story of Vietnam, the world can hope that enemies can become friends one day. With the experiences on the journey of reconciliation, Vietnam can become a messenger of peace, playing an intermediary role in solving the conflict between nations today.

Nobody and no power can go alone and go against the civilized world, with the development trend of the humanity. The seeds of war, extreme nationalism and ethnic and religious conflicts cannot last long in the world where all people want peace and praise love. Vietnam has a chance to play a role in the process of establishing long peace and security for mankind.

Lan Anh