Combat novel by a former member of the South Vietnamese army. Nguyen Vu was born on October 6, 1942 in Hai-duong, North Viet-Nam. After the Geneva Accords of July 20, 1954, his family evacuated to Da-nang and, then, Saigon. Joined the South Vietnamese Army in 1963, and fought the war for twelve years—in various units, from Ranger to Airborne, as an artillery forward observer, a Press and Information officer, or a battery commander—until the collapse of the American-backed Republic of Viet-Nam. His last rank was Captain. Since 1987, has also published five political books in the Vietnamese language, under the pen name of Chinh Dao.