Press Release - Statement by NSC Spokesperson Ned Price on National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice's Meeting with Veterans on the President's Upcoming Asia Travel

National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice met with leaders representing Veterans Service Organizations, Vietnam veterans, and Foreign Service Officers who served in Vietnam. She thanked them for their service to our nation, and expressed appreciation for the advocacy of the Veterans Service Organizations and other groups on behalf of our service members and military families.

Ambassador Rice updated participants on U.S.-Vietnam relations, including recent progress to expand the U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership. She noted the importance of humanitarian cooperation as the "bridge" to the normalization of diplomatic relations over 20 years ago. She underscored the President's commitment to ensure the fullest possible accounting for Americans still missing from past conflicts through the work of the Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. She also discussed the President's decision to visit Hiroshima, Japan to honor the memory of all who lost their lives during World War II. Looking forward, attendees were informed of our growing security cooperation, and our burgeoning economic engagement and strategic ties in the region, including as represented by the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.

Senior representatives from the Department of Defense's POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the Vietnam War Commemoration and Department of Veterans Affairs attended. Collectively, the group included veterans of World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Afghanistan, and Iraq.