From bombs to Starbucks, US veteran remembers end of Vietnam War 50 years on

FILE PHOTO: Chuck Searcy speaks at his office in Vietnam's central Quang Tri province, 600 km (372 miles) south of Hanoi, February 27, 2007. REUTERS/Kham/File Photo

HO CHI MINH CITY/HANOI (Reuters) - As a young U.S. intelligence analyst in Saigon during the Vietnam War, Chuck Searcy never thought that 50 years later he would be living in Communist Vietnam and helping its people fight a different war against unexploded mines.

The Vietnam War scarred a generation of U.S. soldiers, but like many, Searcy returned to the old battleground and has witnessed first hand the dramatic warming of relations between the two former foes.