Chief Petty Officer James "Patches" Watson was there at the start. One of the first to come out of the famed Underwater Demolition Team 21, he was an initial member-a "plank owner"-of America's deadliest and most elite fighting force, the U.S. Navy SEALs. Through three tours in the jungle hell of Vietnam, he walked the point-staying alert to trip wires, booby traps, and punji pits, guiding his squad of amphibious fighters on missions of rescue, reconnaissance, and demolition-confronting a war's unique terrors head-on, unprotected . . . and unafraid. This is the story of a hero told from the heart and from the gut-an authentic tour of duty with one of the most legendary commandoes of the Vietnam War.