John Esposito grew up in Queens, New York. He received his draft notice the same day he graduated from college with a degree in mathematics and philosophy. After basic training and AIT at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, where he earned three MOSs: 11-B (infantry), 11-C (mortars), and 11-H (antitank and demolitions), he went on to NCO school from which he graduated in 1969 as a freshly minted sergeant. Once he arrived in Vietnam in 1969, he was further trained as a helicopter recovery specialist. Sergeant Esposito had very little down time on his tour: “We rotated off doing different missions. So one week we were out in the jungle. The next week we were all on reaction for anybody who was in the jungle. The next week we were on convoy duty. And the next week we were on base defense. That was kind of our rotating schedule. So those are the kind of missions we went on.” He remembers the use of Jeep-mounted 106-millimeter recoilless rifles, Claymore mines, and light antitank weapons. He describes never quite getting enough sleep, being on continuous high alert, the intensity of working behind enemy lines in 12-man teams, trusting his fellow Soldiers with his life and forging real-life band-of-brothers relationships, and getting shot at on 24 out of 26 air missions. He also discusses some of the qualities that make for good leadership contrasted with some characteristics of poor leadership, his great admiration for the medics, and his appreciation for the zeal both of the Kit Carson scouts and the ARVN special forces.