Most people in the nation’s largest Vietnamese community respect that Kerry fought the communists during the Vietnam War. It’s what Kerry did when he returned from the battlefield that angers them.

Many resent Kerry for protesting the Vietnam War as a young veteran and later, as a senator, engaging with Vietnam’s communist leaders and not taking a tougher stance on human rights and democracy in their homeland. Bush also supported engagement with Vietnam, but Kerry gained notoriety in the Vietnamese community.

A spokesman for Kerry’s campaign in California declined to comment.

In the decades since the communists prevailed in Vietnam, hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese, many with links to the South Vietnamese government and army, have immigrated to the United States. More than 1 million now live in this country. Orange County has the most people of Vietnamese descent — 130,000, according to the Census.

As voters, Vietnamese-Americans have traditionally backed the GOP because of its strong anti-communist stance.

“The segment of the community that participates remains in vigorous opposition to the government of Vietnam,” said Christian Collet, a political scientist at the University of California, Irvine.

Many older immigrants remember Kerry as the angry young veteran who railed against the Vietnam War and tossed his medals at an anti-war rally in Washington. He also is remembered as the Senate subcommittee chairman who two years ago blocked the Vietnam Human Rights Act after it passed 410-1 in the House.

NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.