Unique homecoming to Vietnam for US commander

(AP) By BEN STOCKING Associated Press Writer

On the day his side lost the Vietnam War, Hung Ba Le fled his homeland at the age of 5 in a fishing trawler crammed with 400 refugees. Thirty-four years later, he made an unlikely homecoming _ as the commander of a U.S. Navy destroyer.

Le piloted the USS Lassen on Saturday into Danang, home of China Beach, where U.S. troops frequently headed for R&R during the war, which ended on April 30, 1975, when the southern city of Saigon was taken by communist troops from North Vietnam.

That was the day Le and his family embarked on an uncertain journey in a fishing boat piloted by Le's father, who was a commander in the South Vietnamese navy. They were rescued at sea by the USS Barbour County, taken to a U.S. base in the Philippines, a refugee camp in California and finally to northern Virginia, where they rebuilt their lives.

Le returned on the Lassen, an $800,000 million, 509-foot destroyer with a crew of 300. The ship and the USS Blue Ridge are making the latest in a series of goodwill visits to Vietnam, which began in 2003 when the USS Vandergriff paid a port call to Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon.

"I thought that one day I would return but I really didn't expect to be returning as the commander of a Navy warship," Le said Saturday after stepping ashore. "It's an incredible personal honor."

The ship visits represent the efforts of both the United States and Vietnam to develop their relationship as a balance to Chinese power in the region, without antagonizing Vietnam's massive northern neighbor.

Directly east of Danang are the Paracel Islands, where China and Vietnam are engaged in a sensitive territorial dispute over the archipelago, from which the Chinese drove out South Vietnamese troops in 1974. They are also wrangling over the Spratlys, another island chain believed to contain valuable oil and gas reserves.

Le grew up in Hue, a city on the central coast about 65 miles (105 kilometers) north of Danang where he still has relatives. He returned to a country that is vastly changed from the days of the Vietnam War.

Along the Danang coastline where U.S. troops used to swim and surf, luxury hotels such as Hyatt and Marriott are springing up. Tourists are flocking to the region, where they can shoot a few rounds at a course designed by professional golf star Colin Montgomerie.

The relationship between the United States and Communist Vietnam has also changed dramatically since the former foes normalized relations in 1995. Trade has boomed, and diplomatic and military ties have grown closer.

"Next year will mark the 15th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between our two countries," Le said earlier in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "I'm very proud of the progress we've made."