2:52
I just finished up a tour in Vietnam. I'm so grateful to President Trump and Secretary Spencer and Secretary Rubio for allowing me to come back here as an acting Secretary of Navy and work with the head of state and as well as the head of military to you know, foster partnership and cooperation between our two nations. 51 years ago we were you know, at war and there's a lot of pain on both sides. Now it's time for us to heal the wounds of the past and move forward. I got to see the Minister of Defense and then I got to see General Secretary President To Lam and many other officials including Admiral Niem, the Chief of Navy. I mean it's two sailors
sitting down sharing a common bond and working together. We know what we need to do in order to get our ships out there to patrol the East Sea or the South China Sea. It always begins with two people with a lot of things in common. Our visit to Cam Ranh International Port was very important also because it allows us to bring in ships and do some maintenance and repair operations and open up the ports a little more for us to visit Vietnam more frequently. I was so excited to be the first foreign official to visit a Vietnamese warship with the Vietnamese People's Navy.
Together we're so strong. We are a very powerful navy but we're not that big that we can have ships all over the world and that's why we need allies and partnerships. You know, I came back here in 2014 so at that time it was 39 years after I left there. I thought I was on top of the world then but now this takes it up another step because we're talking about partnerships and working together as two nations. It's surreal to come back here as the acting Secretary of Navy. It's coming back full circle right? I left here 51 years ago as a young refugee and America gave me this amazing opportunity of life and freedom and
education. And now I come back here as a acting Secretary of the Navy. I mean, the only thing I wish is that my father was still around to see this. I lost him 4 years ago, but you know, I think that he would be very proud of what we have to accomplish.
