Ex-POW elected envoy to Vietnam

Ex-POW elected envoy to Vietnam

WASHINGTON (Reuter): The former prisoner of war nominated to be the first U.S. ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam vowed on Thursday to help foster trade, promote stability in Southeast Asia and try to bind old war wounds.

The nominee, former Representative Douglas "Pete" Peterson, a Florida Democrat, said that if confirmed as expected he hoped to "play a critical and constructive role in helping our nation mend further" from the war that ended with a communist victory in 1975.

He said a U.S. ambassadorial presence in Hanoi "can help ensure regional stability in Southeast Asia and we will undoubtedly discover new economic opportunities for American businesses where few previously existed."

Fallout from the war and the deep divisions it sowed in U.S society swirled through Peterson's remarks, made at the start of his long-delayed confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.