This is a collection of twenty-three powerful, moving, angry and wise essays published over a period of 15 years. Subjects range from South Africa to Central America, the United States to the Soviet Union, all bound together by the lingering physical, psychological, political and intellectual sensibilities the author first developed as a young enlisted Marine during the Vietnam war.

Twenty-three powerful, moving, angry and wise essays published over a period of 15 years. Subjects range from South Africa to Central America, the United States to the Soviet Union, all bound together by the lingering physical, psychological, political and intellectual sensibilities the author first developed as a young enlisted Marine during the Vietnam war. Four of the essays deal with Ehrhart's second return to Vietnam in 1990.