In 1987 I asked my high school English teacher a question... "Given the opportunity, would you travel back to Vietnam?" His response, "Only if I could stand on Hill 861 again at Khe Sanh." Thirteen-years later, the answer to that question became reality when I traveled halfway around the world to stand on that hill with him. Khe Sanh: A Walk in the Clouds is the story of that return.

The journey begins in a small town in Connecticut and culminates atop a remote mountaintop named Hill 861. Along the way, Dennis meets a former North Vietnamese soldier, a soldier who fought against the Americans at Khe Sanh. But this man showed no anger, or distrust. He acted as though he was among friends, people who understood. And they did understand. It was two different cultures and yet one understanding... the rage of war and the time it's taken to heal the past. "They told us we had 10 minutes to pack out stuff and we were gone. I've been trying to find that place, find that hillside ever since."

Upon Dennis' arrival at Khe Sanh, he is struck by the solitude. Today, Khe sanh is different, it's peaceful. Many of its inhabitants were born after the war, but they know the history. They know why Americans are returning. A five-mile hike into the jungle culminates atop Hill 861. It was here that Dennis Mannion would find solace to a chapter in his life that's been open for thirty-two-years.