I know many things, some of them untrue:

• By 2050, the southern half of Vietnam could all but disappear under the high tide of the South China Sea.

• The Ho Chi Minh Trail is a popular hiking destination.

• Vietnam is longer than Chile and has a greater population.

I drove Bennet to the airport as he left our six-week-old marriage for his nine month tour of duty in Vietnam. He was dressed in a clean starched Army uniform. I was dressed in dread. After waving to the plane until it was a tiny dot in the overcast sky, I walked back to my car feeling as if he had died.