The 15 stories collected here, all written in the first person, blend Vietnamese folklore, the terrible, lingering memories of war, American pop culture and family drama.

When a young woman and a Vietnamese refugee wander into a small diner a few days before Christmas, the lives of the diner's other customers are changed forever.

This is a forthright and piercing account of one soldierś participation in the War in Vietnam. Grounded in facts but still full of humor, it is a tale that follows a young man from Colorado through the horrors of war and beyond.

The killer lies in wait, silently watching as a man and his family ride horses under the Idaho sun. Suddenly the shot rings out. a woman screams. Horse hooves thunder. And Bob Lee Swagger is jolted by a sound he knows all too well. Once he has the Marine Corps' most freared sniper. Now Swagger--husband, father, hero--is fighting to protect his wife and daughter . . . from the one shooter in the world who is as good as he is.

Ben returns to Vietnam after the war ends seeking closure and a measure of peace, and finds love in the arms of Tien, a contemporary Vietnamese woman who is trying to come to terms with her own past.

Allen Carmichael is a man, himself much wounded by life, who rescues abused women and their children, protects them, and finds them safe shelter. In Keeping Watch, he rescues twelve year-old Jaimie O'Connell and takes him to safety, only afterward beginning to wonder if the child is as innocent as he appears.

The story of Adrian Cronauer, a radio disc jockey who keeps American troops in Vietnam entertained while annoying those in higher ranks.