Friends build bridge in Vietnam

After the Vietnam War, Tony Accamando, like many other American veterans, traveled back to the… After the Vietnam War, Tony Accamando, like many other American veterans, traveled back to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to see the country post-war. ‘In 1997, [a friend and I] went back to Vietnam just to see it, just to see the country at peace and not at war,’ said Accamando. ‘When we were there, we saw this thatched roof, dilapidated school. And we thought this is pathetic. So, we thought we should try to build a school.’ On Veterans Day in 1998, they began a campaign to build a school in Da Nang, the location of the U.S. military base where Accamando was stationed. Other people in the area took interest in their project, and together they formed the Friends of Da Nang. The Friends of Da Nang held numerous fundraisers, raising $50,000. And the next year, on Veterans Day, it opened an elementary school in Da Nang. After it accomplished its goal, the Friends of Da Nang decided to build another school. And another. And another. The organization built the elementary school, seven kindergartens, a bridge that connects poor villages during monsoon season and a medical clinic, which opened in 2002. The group also started a program called Let Them Walk Again, Da Nang. This program has helped 1,000 Vietnamese children who were born with birth defects caused by Agent Orange or lost limbs by stepping on land mines left over from the war by offering them therapy, operations and prosthetic limbs. Since its beginning, the friends of Da Nang has raised nearly $500,000 through fundraising breakfasts, jewelry sales and dinners with Vietnamese food, said Accamando. Accamando said the Friends of Da Nang consists of about 50 members. About 20 people attend the group’s monthly meetings. He added that many veterans in the group are just interested in the charitable efforts. ‘We have no overhead ‘mdash; 100 percent of every donation that’s given goes to the projects. That’s appealing for donors. Any administrative costs are covered by donors,’ he said. The group has been pushing Pittsburgh to become sister cities with Da Nang for several years, and members of the Friends of Da Nang attended the signing ceremony in December. Accamando, who graduated from Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Affairs in 1971, said that he believes the U.S. military and its allies were in Vietnam to halt the spreading of communism and to help the Vietnamese people. ‘So, for all these years I have felt that the mission wasn’t completed and maybe I wanted to do something to help the country,’ said Accamando. ‘I believe I am still continuing the mission.’