It is

1994. Chuck Searcy comes back to Vietnam.

He's an accomplished political actor.

He is extremely thoughtful and careful he's very well spoken he

meets the American community in and around Vietnam at this point including Adelaide

Borden who has had experiences of the damage of Agent

Orange or something like it for many years. However, what Chuck Searcy also sees is what George

Black, the author of the book has just identified. The damage done by

unexploded ordinance, an enormous amount of bombs have been a lot dropped over

Vietnam chiefly in one place, I-Corps, and along the coast, although there are other places

where cluster bombs were used, and in Laos, and always to remember Laos was also a target

zone of the bombing and the herbicides.

Chuck Searcy sees something he can do but it's a mixed picture right now

until Bill Clinton and his administration open a door with diplomatic relations

is going to happen in 95.

Was it a near thing, George, for the Clinton administration to open that door? Oh yeah, very much so.

There was still a furious opposition to normalization in Congress and really at that point,

and I think this makes an important point about bipartisanship.

The move to normalize relations depended to a very large extent

to veterans in the Senate who had credibility of both parties.

And the two key figures in this were, well three key figures.

One was John Kerry, who of course was the most famous of the anti-war

...