US air force back in Da Nang
US Air Force CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft landed in Vietnam for the first time ever earlier this month on their way from their Japanese base to military drills in Thailand.
The units touched down in the coastal city of Da Nang, an important US military base in the 1960's and 1970's. The city is currently preparing to host the second summit meeting between US President Trump and his North Korean counterpart Kim.
Bilateral relations have warmed considerably since the nations fought a bloody war that ended with the withdrawal of American troops in 1973, and victory by communist forces over South Vietnam in 1975.
The USA normalised relations with Vietnam in 1995, and lifted an arms embargo in 2016. Last March, the "USS Carl Vinson" made a port call there, the first in that country by a US aircraft carrier since the Vietnam War ended four decades ago. (ah)