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In chapter nine, "Tension", Mason details his R&R in Taiwan in March 1966 and his decision to volunteer for a transfer out of the "Cav" to another helicopter unit. As a child, Robert Mason dreamed of levitating. As a young man, he dreamed of flying helicopters - and the U.S. Army gave him his chance. They sent him to Vietnam where, between August 1965 and July 1966, he flew more than 1,000 assault missions. As he began to suffer from the accumulated stress at the end of his tour, he found he was most comfortable when he was flying.

December 1965 is described in chapter six, "The Holidays". Mason and a similarly experienced pilot, Resler, who became one of Mason's closest friends from Vietnam, began flying together. Setting Up Camp", the third chapter, tells the story of the Cavalry's deployment to An Khe, in central South Vietnam, and Mason's first combat experiences in September 1965. Can’t blame them, can you?” said the lieutenant. “Every time they do, we clobber the sh1t out of them.’Tell Me You're Afraid", chapter thirteen, covers Mason's last months in Vietnam, July and August 1966. Death is almost always gruesome as it is described by Robert Mason in this most gruesome book. There is the intensity of heroism too. Eventually there is the heroism of going on with life having experienced so much death.

Robert Mason had over 1000 helicopter missions during his year in Vietnam. Some moments were peaceful, many were not. I most certainly appreciated the new “Afterward” Mr. Mason inserted some 20+ years later after the first edition of this book. To all the Vietnam Veterans who served and believed they were doing good (regardless of your personal views later and regardless whether those views are “for” or “against” the war) I thank you – God Bless you! Welcome Home! In an epilogue, Mason sketches out his activities upon returning to the US, including his incarceration for smuggling.I first read this book years ago, and it is without a doubt one of the best war memoirs on my shelf and one to which I regularly return (as I just did for the third time, to read during a lengthy trip abroad).

He experiences the accelerating terror, the increasingly desperate courage of a man 'acting out the role of a hero long after he realises that the conduct of the war is insane,' says the New York Times.Chapter eight, "Bong Son Valley", written about the events of February 1966, contains Mason's description of a Vietnamese village and the bars of Qui Nhon. Chapter Four, "Happy Valley", covers October 1965 and describes, among other things, Mason's first R&R in Saigon and an episode in which he accidentally shot out the instrument panel of his own helicopter with a 45 caliber pistol.