365—and a wake-up—To Michael Jennings, Vietnam was just some faraway place where people were killing each other for reasons that weren't very clear. Until he met the rest of the guys in Echo Company. Snoopy knew the only way to live through the nightmare was to laugh at it. Sgt. Hanson just wanted to get his guys out alive. Finnegan was mad that when the Red Sox finally won the pennant, he had to be in Vietnam. J.D. could only think of Emily, back home. And then the killing started...

Michael couldn't believe Sergeant Hanson wanted him to walk point. Great. The most dangerous job in the outfit and they were giving it to a guy who hadn't even been there two weeks. Michael knew things could only get worse. Rumor had it that they were headed for combat assault to secure Hill 568, a hornet's nest of NVA regulars. It looked like a big operation, and in Vietnam, big usually meant bad. For Michael, Snoopy, Finnegan, Viper, and the rest of the guys in Echo Company, Hill 568 was a nightmare they would never forget.

Michael, Snoopy, Sarge, and the rest of the squad wouldn't have chosen to spend Christmas patrolling the jungles of Vietnam—if they'd had a choice, that is. So what was an Army nurse doing wandering hurt and frightened in those same jungles? She wasn't supposed to be there—not in the middle of a war. They certainly couldn't have imagined the harrowing story she had to tell.

Echo Company was on stand down in Chu Lai. Big deal. It wasn't like they could really get away from the war or anything. Finnegan was having problems coping with things altogether. Sergeant Hanson had to adjust to a new chain of command. The squad had to break in some new guys and Michael was still reeling from two really obnoxious letters. All in all, stand down was a pretty weird concept to a bunch of grungy guys who had just come in from the jungles of Vietnam. But then the party started....

Lieutenant Rebecca Phillips had come to Vietnam to heal and give comfort, but found that nearly impossible. The war had torn her family apart and she wanted to know why. But there were no answers for her in Vietnam—only more questions. When Rebecca returns to the U.S., her war still isn't over. For only when she's home is she able to confront the horrific realities she experienced during her tour of duty. To piece her life back together, Rebecca travels across the country in search of hope, of forgiveness...of the road home.