In February of 1966, 17 year old John Musgrave walked down to the local recruiting station, signed up, and set off for three years that would reshape his life. With powerful intimacy and immediacy, Musgrave shares his experiences, from the rude awakening of boot camp, to daily life in the Vietnam jungle, to a chest injury that very nearly killed him. Musgrave also vividly describes the difficulty of returning home to a society rife with antiwar sentiment, and the slow realization that he and his fellow veterans had been betrayed by the government they served.

"There's not a false note in this book, full of both pride and sorrow…. Smart and self-aware, Musgrave delivers one of the best recent books on America's experience in Vietnam."—Kirkus Reviews