A story of a young boy growing up in rural Arkansas as a poor farmhand during the 1950s. After viewing a photo album given to him by a WWII veteran, he found a means of escape from farm life and Carden Bottoms; he would join the military. He maintained his dream of being in the military and serving his country. After enduring a rough beginning with life through grade school and high school, he continued to strive towards the only life that was within his reach and could save him and give him the life he dreamed of. His dream finally came true at age seventeen in Oklahoma City, where he began a career that spans thirty-four years, serving his country in Vietnam, where he survived the battle for Khe Sanh. They tested the author again when he got called to serve in Iraq later in his military career and got the duty of escorting the U.S. mail convoys across Iraq. Even after his military career, the author must survive a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami, then find a way home from Japan to the United States during the meltdown of a nuclear plant in which he worked. A true story of one man's life and struggles by Bill Lynch.