George Forrest was born and raised in Southern Maryland, in the era of segregation. His family heavily stressed the importance of education and sports. He participated in ROTC at Morgan State University, a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland, and upon graduation in 1960 was commissioned a second lieutenant. After assignments in California and Germany, he was reassigned to the 3rd US Infantry—the Old Guard—at Fort Meyer in Arlington, Virginia, where he commanded guards of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Forrest deployed to Vietnam in 1965 as a captain, commanding Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). He was the only African-American company commander in the battalion. He remembers President Kennedy’s and Omar Bradley’s funerals, R&R in Hong Kong, music of the R&B greats, excellent NCOs, forgotten passwords, recovering wounded and dead bodies at LZ X-ray, and the nightmare that was LZ Albany. He also recalls poor judgment and bad decisions by superiors, suboptimal rules of engagement, especially at the Michelin Rubber Plantation and Cu Chi during his second tour, 1967-1968, with the 2nd of the 2nd, a mechanized infantry battalion. Forrest’s observations are honest and insightful, his assessments are thoughtful and fair and fascinating.