West Point Visits APU on Vietnam Study Abroad

In July 2009, American Pacific University (APU) was honored to receive faculty and cadets from the prestigious United States Military Academy at West Point, the oldest of America’s service academies, the number one ranked university in Forbes, and the alma mater to two U.S. presidents.

These cadets selected Vietnam as the destination for the study abroad component of their education. Along their tour, the cadets visited the APU International High School campus in District 11 as well as the development sites of the APU campus at Cu Chi and the American International Boarding School in Da Lat.

Among the highlights of the West Point tour was the visit to the Cu Chi tunnels. While most tourists only venture into the first level of the tunnels, the cadets insisted upon descending to the deepest level, remarking that the challenge of navigating the tunnels reminded them of the rigorous training at West Point.

While at Cu Chi, the cadets also took a boat tour along the Saigon River as well as sampled some of the local cuisine. While these delicacies were more agreeable to some than to others, they did not inhibit the cadets from sampling everything that was offered to them, including fermented shrimp paste and anchovy sauce.

APU was proud to host members of an educational institution of such international esteem as West Point Academy and was glad to hear the cadets mention that they would come back to facilitate courses as APU in a few years later. We hope that this will be the beginning of an ongoing tradition of exchange.