Almost every generation of Americans has lived with the existence of war in their lifetime. The Viet Nam War was my generation's nightmare. Whether or not we had a loved one as a soldier or other military agent in the war, the Viet Nam War affected our lives drastically. The news reported it daily. Images were imprinted on our minds. The protests seemed to involve all of us as if we were there.

This is one more personal telling of those events. Even though it has been fictionalized, every war incident in this book actually happened. Many pieces have been left untold. One fact not made clear to the reader is that as a Sergeant, Johnny at age eighteen and nineteen led a platoon of fourteen men in their skirmishes and only three of them (including the teller, John David Young) survived.