The author remembers his year in Viet Nam as a machine gunner in a recon platoon during the year the troop buildup was at the highest and the casualties the greatest, 1968. He details his travels all over the country and describes the men, weapons, tactics and his love, and hate for a country he realizes he cannot help though he wishes he could. You will follow along beside him on the missions, feel the mud and the sweat, the relentless sun, and the pain and the horror his platoon goes through. You will feel his pain as he loses close friends, fights malaria and ultimately survives and returns home, only to find his battles are far from over. You will come to understand, as he did, that war is not something you go through and then forget, but something that stays with you throughout your life. This book dispels the romantic or adventuresome aspect of war that some people see, and he asks young men contemplating a career in the armed forces to consider their choice very carefully, to understand what they may be getting themselves into without fully realizing the consequences.
