 At the signing of the Paris Peace Accords on January 27, 2013 (file photo) |
The negotiations of the Paris Peace Agreement took place amid strong anti-war movements in France. At a time of tough negotiations in the winter of 1972, the US military conducted the largest air strike since World War II. Peace lovers in France vehemently condemned the atrocities of the US army.
International support and solidarity
52 anti-war friendship organizations in France protested against the Vietnam war and voiced their support for the Vietnamese people.
The house at Choisy-le-Roi, where 50 years ago a delegation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam stayed for nearly 5 years to negotiate the Paris Agreement, is still there. A large square named "Paris Agreement" was inaugurated in 2013 with a symbol of peace soaring into the sky as a manifestation of the long-lasting friendship between Vietnam and France.
Jéanine Rubin, one of the volunteers who served meals to the Vietnamese negotiating team 50 years ago, recalls: "At that time, I was working in a school. The Communist Party asked me if I wanted to volunteer to support the Vietnamese negotiating team, and I agreed. Although my time with the delegation was short, what I felt for them motivated me to join the French Communist Party and participate in Franco-Vietnamese friendship activities until today. I have very good memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life."
Vietnam received a lot of support from the American people. The movement against the war in Vietnam spread around the world encouraging the Vietnamese people to be resilient on the military and diplomatic fronts. US Navy veteran John Terzano, who served two tours in Vietnam and later joined John Kerry and Bobby Muller in the "American Veterans Against the Vietnam War" organization.
John said: "A month before the Peace Accord was signed, I left Vietnam and the US Navy destroyer for what I thought would be the last time. I was never in my life so happy to leave the place. My memories of my first two visits to Vietnam in 1971 and 1972 were not pleasant. Memories of the war never are. But what I did not know at the time was that I would return to Vietnam many times over the years and just like my first two visits, evey subsequent visit has changed my but no more than my first visits back after the war ended."
 At a meeting to mark the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in Hanoi on January 13, 2023 (Photo: qdnd.vn) |
Vietnam grateful for foreign friends
Since the end of the war, John Terzano and his American friends have been dedicated to Vietnam-US relations advocating for the US to lift its embargo on Vietnam, and supporting Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange and mine survivors hoping to heal the wounds of the war. Returning to Vietnam on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Paris Peace Accords, John and many others recalled that historical moment 50 years ago.
Nguyen Phuong Nga, President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations, said: "50 years have elapsed, but they still retain their enthusiasm and love for Vietnam and its people, and are still ready to join Vietnam in rallying international solidarity its national construction and defense. They are our timeless friends."
In a message to international friends on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Paris Peace Agreement, Nguyen Thi Binh, former Vice President of Vietnam, who was a key negotiator that year, said: "We remember our American friends who set themselves on fire to protest the war, and we will never forget the millions of people around the world who defied repression and imprisonment and marched to demand that the US end the war. Your solidarity and support gave us the strength to fight on the battlefield and on the negotiating table."
Those French and American friends who supported the Vietnamese negotiating team formed a solid wall for the cause of peace and became part of history.