As we travel south through the central highlands I am reminded of my prior trip to Vietnam on behalf of Friendship Bridge, a nonprofit in Denver, Colorado set up by American Army physicians serving in the war. We were part of a medical mission that travels regularly to Vietnam for medical education. We worked in the operating rooms and gave lectures in both Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi in 1995. At that time the US did not have a diplomatic relationship with Vietnam. We could not use credit cards, only cash and our supplies were subject to whimsical taxes everywhere. It was a life changing trip. I remember listening to these veterans talk about the war and eating French fries with them and drinking 333 (bababa) beer on China Beach that still looked like a moonscape after deforestation from the war. We also drive by Marble Mountain, site of a hidden Vietnam Cong hospital right near the American base in Danang. My uncle helped develop listening devices that were dropped along the Ho Chi Minh Trail to detect troop movements (before GPS). This trail is all along the road we travel now through fishing villages and high rises along China Beach and the bustling city of Danang.
