My husband, Doug, needed to go to Vietnam. He had been stationed in a small coastal town in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War in 1966. He was 19 years old and serving in the 297th Transportation Company of the US Army. Because he was not a combat veteran and was stationed in Nha Trang, where there was no "action" during the war, Doug had many fond memories of the sweet, gentle Vietnamese people he met during the 13 months he was stationed there - and after 35 years, he needed to go back.

For many years I resisted going to Vietnam because Doug also wanted to go into Cambodia - and I was afraid of the Khmer Rouge. Once things began to stabilize in Cambodia I agreed to vacation in both countries with him. We left on December 29th from San Francisco and had a two hour layover in Tokyo before flying on to Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon.