This memoir focuses on the feeling of close calls in a combat zone. They were relatively rare for me as I was in a situation where I did not go looking for trouble; I just waited for it to come to me. It did, of course. However, I was in no way a combat soldier and did not live the physical misery and constant terror that was part of doing sweeps and patrols—compassion and respect for those who did.

The photo at the left is the scene looking west from my barracks at Da Nang Air Base. Rockets came at us just beyond the nearby hills. Photo by Scooter Smith.

“During the Vietnam War, the nickname for Da Nang Air Base was “Rocket City.” I flew into it on one of my squadron’s C-130s during Tet, 1970.”