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During the war I was a news analyst at Hanoi's American Affairs Department. From the beginning, we could tell that Robert McNamara was the mastermind. Each day, when we held a conference to discuss new developments, we always talked about McNamara first.

In the early years, he was bellicose. We called him the "hawk." He believed that if the Viet Cong could see how powerful American technology was, they would not fight. Of course, this was not the case. Much of what he and President Johnson authorized were war crimes, and we were furious.

By 1966 or 1967, we saw differences emerging between him and the other war architects. He was the first to see that the war was hopeless. As a result, when Mr. McNamara left the Defense Department in 1968, we understood it was not simply a resignation. We knew that if he openly stated his differences with President Johnson, the war might end more quickly. But Johnson shifted him to the World Bank; a public statement never came.

Nearly 30 years later, I got to meet him. From 1995 to 1999, Mr. McNamara came to Vietnam for discussions about opportunities we missed to end the war sooner. One time, when we disagreed about the reason the U.S. launched an air war, I remember quoting McGeorge Bundy, who said that excuses to justify a bombing campaign were like streetcars that come along every few minutes. Mr. McNamara did not protest. He apologized for the Gulf of Tonkin incident. He also recognized that a second attack did not take place there, a fact that could have prevented much carnage had the Americans recognized it at the time. I thought, if he is an example of the character of the American people, we can forget the past.

In retrospect, I don't feel much anger toward Mr. McNamara. War is war. It was his job to execute it, and he was faithful to his country. I do not think this sentiment is mine alone. When Mr. McNamara came to Vietnam in 1995, he worked out each morning by going for a jog around a lake in Hanoi. I remember everyone smiling at him—even though they knew exactly who he was. The majority of Vietnamese have been born in the years since the war ended; they look upon Americans as friends. Not many people are engaged in the analysis of the war. They have other things to do.

Huynh Coedited The Vietnam War: Vietnamese And American Perspectives.