Terzano was one of the first American veterans returning to Vietnam after the war in December 1981. Overcoming barriers and divisions, he and his teammates made every effort to convince American politicians to support the resumption of the relationship with Vietnam.

He returned to Vietnam in mid-January 2023, half a century after the Paris Agreement was signed. At the age of 80, Terzano and friends around the world spent more than one week in Vietnam to reminisce about the time when they supported the country.

Terzano is a US Navy veteran who served in Vietnam in 1971-1972. After the war, he was one of the first veterans to return to Vietnam with an effort to reconcile, to remove the trade embargo, and to normalize Vietnam-US relations.

Terzano, John Kerry and Bobby Muller are active members of Vietnam Veterans against the War (VVAW), the co-founders of the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) (VVA-1978) and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) (VVMF - 1982)

“One month before the Paris Agreement was signed in 1973, I left Vietnam on a US Navy destroyer. I thought that was the last time I would be in Vietnam,” he recalled.

Terzano said his memories about the two times of coming to Vietnam in 1971 and 1972 were not pleasant. The thing he did not know at that time was that he would come back to Vietnam many times later.

With great efforts for reconciliation, the lifting of the embargo, and normalization of Vietnam-US relations, in December 1981, Terzano and Muller led the delegation of American veterans first returning to Vietnam after the war.

Terzano has been to Vietnam many times, but he said the first time left the strongest impression on him. At that time, Vietnam-US relations were strained and the US still maintained the embargo against Vietnam. Terzano an Muller acted enthusiastically in an effort to normalize the relations between the two countries.

The first visit to Vietnam by the two American veterans fell on Christmas, when Hanoi celebrated the 9th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu.

“When we were walking on Hanoi streets, a Vietnamese person we met asked if we were US veterans. When I answered ‘Yes’, he said ‘Welcome to Vietnam’,” he recalled.

Terzano said he and his teammates were surprised by the Vietnamese attitude, especially after the US’s biggest bombing campaign nearly 10 years before. The act of kindness and openness moved him.

He said US veterans realize that the war could not corrupt the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people. Vietnam continues to move forward with its own capability and ability.

After the visit, the veterans returned to the US with the desire to cooperate and help the Vietnamese people.

“Bobby Muller and I tried our best in Washington D.C, asking the US government to set policies and give support to veterans, our old comrades, as well as to Vietnamese exposed to Agent Orange,” Terzano said, adding that was the beginning of the VVMF establishment. 

After that, many US veterans, including Terzano and Muller began urging the US government to push  reconciliation with Vietnam through the lifting of the embargo and relations normalization.

Terzano said the action did not get support in the US in the 1980s and early 1990s, but he and other people persisted.

After the tireless efforts by American veterans, in 1994, then US President Bill Clinton declared the lifting of the embargo against Vietnam. In 1995, the two countries normalized diplomatic relations.

Only 23 years after the Paris Agreement were Vietnam-US relations re-established. Since then, American veterans from many different organizations and American individuals have come to Vietnam to work, to demine, teach children, and treat orange agent victims. They also carry out projects to improve the quality of the lives of people.

Tran Thuong