It's late summer 1967 at DaNang Air Force Base in South Vietnam. The 366th Tactical Fighter Wing has big problems. They just lost a squadron of F-4Cs to a rocket attack when a chain reaction from the initial explosion blows a row of the best fighters on earth. This event triggers headquarters to order changes in DaNang's missions which caused the wing to suffer the greatest losses of any Air Force fighter wing in the war. Into this teaming, ambitious, tropical cauldron comes the author, who, as a backseat pilot, would rather be anywhere else.

After four years at the brand new Air Force Academy, which he barely survives, he's seriously questioning if his military conditioning will get him through; for the tour in Vietnam will prove to be a nightmare in what may be the last great conventional air war in history. From Khe Sahn to the Tet Offensive, to strange bombing runs, to drunken soul searching, to crashes no one should have survived, to coming close to court-martial, to losing close friends, Oliver gives his take on the devastating dualities of air attack and needless war.