Prior to the war in Afghanistan, the Vietnam War was the longest war in U.S. history. As part of his visit to Vietnam, Obama announced the end of one of the last vestiges of the Vietnam War: a decades-old ban on the sale of lethal military equipment to Vietnam.

President Barack Obama: “I can also announce that the United States is fully lifting the ban on the sale of military equipment to Vietnam that has been in place for some 50 years. As with all our defense partners, sales will need to still meet strict requirements, including those related to human rights. But this change will ensure that Vietnam has access to the equipment it needs to defend itself, and removes a lingering vestige of the Cold War.”

This Friday, Obama will visit the Japanese city of Hiroshima, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to visit the city where the U.S. dropped a nuclear bomb toward the end of World War II. Obama will not apologize for the nuclear bombing, which killed 140,000 people and seriously wounded another 100,000.