It's a question that would pop into the minds of many Americans if they were traveling to Vietnam. How will we be treated?

The Vietnamese have moved on

It was former South Bend mayor Joe Kernan's first trip to the country since being held there as a prisoner of war.

Joe and Maggie Kernan pose in front of the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi's Ba Dinh Square. The mausoleum is a memorial to Ho Chi Minh, President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam from Sept. 2, 1945, to Sept. 2, 1969. WSBT-TV Photo/MIKE CLOONAN

War by nature is ugly. The Vietnam war was very ugly. A lot of time has passed since the war ended, but time doesn't always heal all wounds.

When Kernan returned to Vietnam with his wife, Maggie, he wasn't sure how she would react to the Vietnamese. After all, they held her husband prisoner for 11 months.

"There's part of me that wants to feel distrust or anger, but that certainly wouldn't be a very healthy thing. I need to move on, too," she said.

The Vietnamese have moved on. That became very clear when the Kernans visited one of the sites where Joe was held prisoner.

Kernan had to resort to looking at pictures of old prison buildings. That's because they've been torn down. A 27-story apartment building is about to be built.

The local developers invited the group into their offices to talk about their project.

"My wife, Maggie, said that the new project — which you must be very, very proud of — is a much better use for this property, than it was 40 years ago," Kernan said.

Mike Cloonan owns the company Innovative Immersions. He organized the Kernan's trip to Vietnam. He said the Vietnamese don't have animosity toward Americans.

"75 percent of the Vietnamese were born after the war, and they're so focused on today, economic growth," Cloonan said.

If you look at the streets and shops of Hanoi, you can tell there is a lot of room for growth. Cloonan has been on his fourth trip to the country.

"A lot of companies, not just American, have what they call a China-plus-one policy. You don't have all your eggs in the China basket, in case there's turmoil or economic unrest," he said.

There is even an American chamber of commerce in Hanoi. Kernan was the guest speaker at their luncheon. He was introduced by the president of Exxon Mobil in Vietnam. The speech was delivered at a Hilton hotel.

Revisiting the place that marked a turning point in your life

It's an opportunity that can send chills down your spine; Revisiting the place that marked a turning point in your life.

Former Governor and South Bend mayor Joe Kernan has been doing that every day for the last couple weeks in Vietnam, where he spent 11 months as a Prisoner of War in the 1970’s.

Meantime, his wife is seeing these places for the first time.

Joe Miller, a friend of Kernan's, has been posting video and journal updates from the trip on his website, which has allowed WNDU to follow Kernan’s journey. He posted some new video, which you can see by watching the video above.

Kernan has been able to meet the people that were there when his plane crashed in a small village back in may of 1972, and again see the places that have stuck in his mind for decades.

For Joe and his wife, it's an emotional ride.

Looking on the field where Kernan's plane crashed, and was nearly attacked by a crowd; emotions can't hide.

“He’s standing there taking pictures and tears are running down his cheeks,” Maggie Kernan said to another member of the group, as she watched her husband look at the field near a river.

Kernan met a man who remembers his father helping rescue a blindfolded American, as a crowd tried to attack the man.

Then, Kernan met another man with a long flowing beard, who also helped Kernan run away to safety near the river that night.

A fleeting moment 38 years ago, that seems it could have happened yesterday by the way the two describe it.

“I took you down here, and then to the boat,” the Vietnamese man said through an interpreter, while demonstrating the act.

“Thank you,” Joe Kernan said, smiling.

As Maggie Kernan watches, she can't help but realize what this family did for her family.

“Um... We all try to do a little kindness now and then,” Maggie Kernan said, choking back tears. “But the kindness that was shown here to Joe, um, it went a long way… I'm a little overcome.”

Because of that small act, these families will always be connected. Now, the strange man with hairy legs who fell from the sky into this village can form new memories of a place so important to his personal history.

“Don't go to Maggie, Maggie will make you cry,” Joe Kernan joked, as he picked up a child that was watching as his group made their way through the village.

“The people have been wonderful, and I'm so thankful to the family that helped Joe,” Maggie Kernan said.

People in the village remember Kernan’s hairy legs, because apparently none of them had leg hair. They also remembered Kernan's big, full mustache.

Kernan’s group made its way to Cambodia Wednesday on its way back to the U.S.

On this trip, in addition to that village; Kernan visited the Vietnamese Army Museum in Hanoi, as well as the ‘Hanoi Hilton’ and ‘The Zoo,’ nicknames for the two prisons where he spent time during his 11 months as a POW.