An impressive book on several levels. The writing is concise, but lyrical. The stories grab you by the throat and won't let you go until you scream or cry. The characters are fully fleshed with a few telling details and brief vignettes. The stories are mostly from the Viet Nam era, but the emotional truth of young men in war is universal. I, coincidentally, read this while reading the section of Caesar: Life of a Colossus set during the Gallic Wars, which had lengthy sections from Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic War. I'm sure the legionnaires carried around the same tokens from home, humped the same heavy kit, and felt similar fears as they slogged through the mud and faced their enemies in hostile territory. Highly recommended.