This book is a firsthand account of the Vietnam conflict as it unfolded before a midlevel-career military officer. In a first-person account, it does not portend to be a microcosm of that war but, rather, what it was like for one year, at one place, to participate and ultimately lead an attack squadron in combat. This an upbeat, anecdote-filled, historically accurate but nonscholarly tale of events seen or taken part in by the author. The book aims for a wide audience that likes aviation, adventure, and insight into leadership. It forcefully brings home the lessons we as a country should learn from such turmoil. This is no "memoir" to justify the action or inaction of a midlevel manager, but a month-by-month account of controlled mayhem and high humor among professionals in the maelstrom of battle.