At the Mercy of Chance

At the Mercy of Chance: A Pensive

Warrior's Fieldnotes From West Point

to Kon Tum is a true account of a young

man's journey from a humble yet fulfilling

nurture in Illinois through graduation from

West Point and combat in Vietnam. It's

about the myriad ways the reality of active

duty tests the relevance of the soaring

motto: Duty Honor Country. It is a clear-

eyed accounting of individual selflessness

of service to the nation side-by-side with

the bewildering ambiguity of "boots on the

ground" strategy, and provides an answer

to the question of how much a soldier is

truly asked to give in war.