written by Todd DePastino Back in the 1980s, Mt. Lebanon High School, south of Pittsburgh, had a great mound of landfill in the rear we called “The Rockpile.” It was flattened on top into a rectangle and used as a practice field. During track season, discus, shotput, and javelin throwers did their thing up

written by Todd DePastino The Demilitarized Zone--the DMZ--stretched across the narrow waist of Vietnam, 30 km north of Hue City, cutting the country into two states along the 17th Parallel, much as the DMZ at the 38th Parallel does today in Korea. It was never intended to be a national border. The Geneva Accords

written by Todd DePastino Our attention turned once again to the American War when we toured Hue on Day 4 of our trip. Hue burst into the American consciousness like a flash grenade on January 30, 1968, the first day of the Tet Offensive. Nha Do Gate to the south of the Old

written by Todd DePastino Our morning excursion in Halong Bay was a welcome respite from the bustle and war stories of Hanoi. Halong Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage site and visual wonder. Two-thousand islands (officially 1,969, the year of Ho Chi Minh’s death), each draped in thick foliage, stand like soldiers at attention

written by Todd DePastino One immediate difference I noticed in this year’s trip to Vietnam is the absence of Chinese tourists. In 2018 and 2020, we shared our hotels, tourist sites, and the streets with large groups of well-dressed Chinese vacationing in Vietnam. The sumptuous hotel breakfast buffets were strictly segregated—sometimes even by floor.

written by Todd DePastino Welcome sign at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi Vietnam is about as far as you can travel from the United States. It's literally half-way round the world. So, most of us who landed in Hanoi on November 28 for our two-week tour of Vietnam put in 24-hours