1st U.S. Envoy in 38 Years in Hanoi; Role Downplayed

The first U.S. diplomat posted to Hanoi in 38 years arrived Wednesday, but the United States went out of its way to play down his role.

The temporary assignment of Scott Marciel and two State Department colleagues to help the U.S. military detachment in Hanoi does not mean that the United States is establishing relations with Vietnam, a U.S. government spokesman said.

“This temporary arrangement does not represent any change in U.S.-Vietnamese relations,” a statement from Washington issued here said.

The United States has had no diplomats stationed in Vietnam since 1975, when the South Vietnamese regime it backed in the war lost to Hanoi-led Communist forces.

Marciel was the first U.S. diplomat to be posted in Hanoi since Washington closed a mission here in 1955.

He and his colleagues will deal with an increasing number of U.S. visitors, freeing military staff to concentrate on trying to determine the fate of more than 2,000 U.S. Vietnam War servicemen still listed as missing in action, U.S. officials said.