Geoffrey Clifford flew helicopter assault missions in central Vietnam in 1971. The 21-year-old pilot said he hated the war and was happy to leave after his nine-month mission.

But the vision of Vietnam's poetic landscape below his helicopter, the mist-shrouded Hai Van Pass and the central coastal mountain range, remained fresh in his mind.

"I loved it from Day One. I got to see some of the prettiest landscapes in the world," Clifford, based in San Anselmo, was quoted by ContraCosta Times as saying.
Thirteen years after leaving Da Nang, Clifford, now a professional photographer, travelled to Vietnam with the first tour of American veterans allowed back to the country.

Inspired by this first peacetime journey, Clifford has since made more than 20 trips to the country.