A Marine’s memoir of a life-changing 2007 adventure back to Vietnam with a medical mission team that weaves in his 1965-66 combat experiences as an artillery officer, who spent too much time with the grunts. Against all odds, the author searched for the two Vietnamese friends he had emotionally connected with during the war. The spirit of reconciliation within the humanitarian mission team along with the success of finding his friends (41 years later) was the inspirational therapy that freed him of the mental burden of the war. The monkey was off his back! A deadly Viet Cong sapper unit attack on his artillery battery as well as episodes from Operation Hastings, the first large scale battle along the DMZ are featured combat stories. The book is dedicated to the victorious warriors from the land, air, and sea who fought on Hastings; with deep admiration for the iron- willed Marine on Hill 362 who remained silent during the bayonet torture. Tours of Hue, the Gulf of Tonkin, and the Hanoi Hilton prison round out the Annapolis graduate’s memoir. On China beach at sunrise, standing in the shallow water of the South China Sea in the peaceful 2007 atmosphere, he was proud to be an American in the foreign, yet, familiar land.