PROLOGUE

“BROKEN ARROW! BROKEN ARROW!” BELLOWED A soldier into his field radio. “Command . . . Command . . . we are being overrun!” The soldier put away the radio and began firing his machine gun. Explosions dimly lit the night sky like fireworks on the Fourth of July. In a nearby foxhole, a young Marine saw the shadowy, ghost-like silhouettes of the suicidal enemy sappers as they charged through the American defenses. The North Vietnamese Army used these demolition commandos expertly to breach the American defenses. Terror filled the bones of the young Marine. A kamikaze sapper charged his position, wired with explosives, leaving him little time to ponder his feelings. The sapper jumped into the foxhole, landing on top of the young Marine. The two men struggled hand-to-hand in a fierce battle to the death. The young Marine knew he had only seconds before the sapper would activate his explosives, killing both men.

With a swift, desperate motion, the young Marine swept his bayonet from its sheath and drove it into the waiting chest of the enemy. Silence enveloped the young Marine’s soul. At that moment, it was as if all life had stopped. The young Marine l