ON THE STREET

The Southeast Missourian asked people what they thought of the United States normalizing diplomatic relations with Vietnam.

Pat Vogt: "I think it is due and is a fine thing. It's to our benefit. I think doing this will help with the issue of those missing in action."

Elsworth D. Ware III: "I think it will help bring a sense of closure to the whole controversy that our country has suffered over Vietnam. It will also open up markets there for us, and I don't see a problem with that."

Albert M. Spradling: "I hate to see us do it. We have so many MIAs unaccounted for. I don't think the Vietnam government has been cooperative. They are still one of the hard-line Communist countries, and I don't think that now is an appropriate time."

John Baldwin: "It's about time. We normalized relations with Japan and Germany after the second world war. There were MIAs in those conflicts, so what's the difference?"

Florence Leggett: "I have mixed feelings because I lost some friends over there. However, I feel that we should be friends with all countries, because we can all help each other."