Associated Press
Sunday, July 2, 2006

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, July 1 -- U.S. Navy sailors stood at attention on deck in white uniforms Saturday in what looked like a postcard made for the Fourth of July.

A closer look revealed a snapshot of reconciliation: The American flag rippled in the breeze alongside Vietnam's banner atop two U.S. warships docked on the Saigon River more than three decades after the Vietnam War ended.

The arrival of the USS Patriot and USS Salvor marked the fourth time U.S. military ships have made port calls to Vietnam since 2003, in what has become an annual stop to bolster military ties between the former enemies. The arrival comes a month after Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld visited Vietnam.

"Every one of us is very anxious to go ashore and meet the people of Vietnam and get a chance to experience its rich culture," said Lt. Cmdr. Richard Brawley, USS Patriot commanding officer. "All of my sailors are very young. They've never had a chance to experience what modern Vietnam is about. They only get the impression from Hollywood movies and history books."

About 180 crew members were expected to celebrate Independence Day during the five-day stop in Vietnam.

The sailors are a generation younger than the U.S. soldiers who fought during the Vietnam War, when Ho Chi Minh City, then called Saigon, was the capital of U.S.-backed South Vietnam.

The USS Patriot is a Japan-based minesweeper, and the USS Salvor is a salvage-and-rescue vessel from Pearl Harbor.

The visit marks the first time two U.S. ships have docked together in Vietnam since the war ended.

Since Vietnam and the United States reestablished diplomatic ties in 1995, the two countries have grown closer in many areas, with bilateral trade reaching nearly $8 billion last year.