ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, May 25, 1996 TAG: 9605290033
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
NOTE: Below
Pete Peterson remembers his first trip to Vietnam.
The Air Force pilot was flying his jet fighter over that country 30 years ago when the North Vietnamese shot him down.
He parachuted into a tree in the dark, breaking his arm, leg and shoulder. During the next 61/2 years, as a prisoner of war, he was tortured, imprisoned in solitary confinement and interrogated.
Peterson will get quite a different reception next fall if the Senate confirms his nomination as the first U.S. ambassador to Vietnam in 21 years.
There will be an official greeting at the airport and a ceremonial presentation of credentials to the Vietnamese government.
``It will be quite different,'' Peterson, a Florida congressman, told The Associated Press. ``I have no problem shaking hands. I essentially left my hate at the door back in 1973.''
President Clinton's nomination of Peterson on Friday capped the politically tricky process of establishing full relations between the one-time enemies.
It follows the lifting of a long-standing U.S. trade embargo against Vietnam and the opening of an embassy in Hanoi last summer.
Vietnam does not yet have an ambassador to the United States. That country's top diplomat in Washington is the charge d'affaires, Le Van Bang, 47, who was a member of a youth brigade fixing bombed roads during the war.
Peterson's appointment must be confirmed by the Senate, which has voiced some reservations about establishing full relations with Vietnam.
Some senators are worried that Vietnam has not given full information on more than 2,000 servicemen from the war still listed as missing.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., anticipated difficulties with the confirmation process.
``I do think it will be difficult to pass the nomination, given the circumstances,'' Daschle told a news conference Friday.
But Peterson was optimistic that problems will be ironed out. He expects to take his post in September or October, if all goes well.
Relaxing in his Capitol Hill office, Peterson, 60, explained why it was important to put the hurt and anguish aside and begin a healing process.
``I know it's hard. ... I still have some residual pains, but we have to start using the term Vietnam without adding the suffix war. We need to start making Vietnam with the suffix country,'' he said.
``If we can do that, then we will allow Vietnam to enter into the community of nations in a peaceful process as opposed to a potentially adversarial one that might erupt if we were still disengaged.''
Peterson stressed he would continue working to determine the fate of the missing servicemen - among them some 20 friends.
He said two trips he took to Vietnam in 1991 and 1993 as a member of the House National Security Committee made it easier for U.S. teams to roam throughout southeast Asia without a great deal of red tape.
But he added that it will be almost impossible to determine the fate of about 445 of the servicemen because they were lost over water or under difficult circumstances.
Looking back on his years as a prisoner, Peterson said that one of the things that kept him going was his sense of humor.
He recalled one afternoon when he and a friend were shackled to a board, their hands tied, their legs in iron chains.
``For whatever reason ... our eyes caught and we just started to laugh. I guess we were near hysteria. But we laughed and laughed to a point where the Vietnamese came in and ... released us from our bonds,'' he said. He speculated that the guards were furious the two men appeared to be having fun.
Peterson said being a prisoner has turned him into a better person.
``When I was shot down, I was a cocky kind of pilot ... But that experience taught me there was much more out there than just being good as a pilot. My compassion and understanding of people's circumstances has soared.''
Peterson, who was born in Omaha, Neb., retired from the Air Force in 1981 after 26 years in service. He was awarded several medals, including the Purple Heart, the Silver Star and the Legion of Merit.
Before being elected to Congress in 1991, Peterson was ino the computer business. He describes himself as a ``computer nut and a history buff'' who likes to visit ancient sites.
Peterson has two children. His wife, Carlotta, died last year.
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Rep. Pete Peterson, D-Fla., shown Friday in hisby CNBCapitol Hill office, may become the first U.S. ambassador to Vietnam
in 21 years. color.