In his memoir, Major General Jack Leide, USA (Ret) vividly provides an unvarnished version of his 33-year action-packed Army career, including personal experience during some of the historically defining military and political conflicts and crisis of the last half of the 20th century. The book offers a unique window into the latter half of the 20th century, with vivid accounts of combat in Santo Domingo, the jungles of Vietnam, and the intense war room during Desert Storm. Leide's role as a defense and army attaché to China during the Tiananmen Square massacre and the evacuation of American citizens adds another layer of depth to his experiences. -- Back cover and Amazon

Chapter 1: From the beginning -- The infantry is really basic -- Becoming a paratrooper: Airborne qualification course, Ft. Benning, Georgia February -24 April 1964 -- 82 Airborne Division: Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, March 1964 -- Brav0 Company, 3rd Battalion (Airborne), 325th Infantry -- Operation Power Pack: Dominican Republic --- A new job: Aid de Camp -- Into the unknown -- Chapter 2: Sky soldier -- 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate), Bien Hoa, -- Republic of Vietnam, April 1966 -- Heliborne Assault into Vung Tau -- Company Ambush Mission, Xuan Loc -- Out of the crab trap: Moving back to base camp -- Saying goodbye to Charlie Company -- II Field Force: Long Binh, South Vietnam, December 1966-April 1967 -- Chapter 3: My first experience in the world of intelligence -- A Screaming Eagle: 101st Airborne Division, Camp Eagle, Phu Bai, Vietnam -- Taking command of the 101st military -- Intelligence Company -- Leaving Camp Eagle -- Chapter 4: Invaluable Career-Expanding Experiences: 1971-1980 -- My experience with Chinese language begins -- United States Army Language School, Monterey -- California: November 1970-December 1971 -- Entering the Joint Arena: The Armed Forces Staff -- College, Norfolk, VA: December 1971-June 1972 -- Advanced Language and Area Study -- Directorate for Estimates Defense Intelligence -- Agency: January-July 1975 -- Hong Kong soldier -- A Special Forces soldier -- Chapter 5: All-American! All the Way! -- Back to the All Americans -- A blueprint for the future -- Chapter 6: To the Pentagon and back, and a whole world in between -- Chief, China/Far East Division, Directorate for Estimates, Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC: June 1982-January 1983 -- Office of the secretary of Defense, Washington, DC: January 1983-July 1984 -- 500th Military Intelligence Group, United States Army Intelligence Security Command: Camp Zama, Japan: July 1984-July 1986 -- Office of the United States Army, Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, the Pentagon, Washington, DC: July 1986-March 1988 -- Chapter 7: Into the Middle Kingdom -- The beginnings in the Middle Kingdom -- An unprecedented trip to the United States -- An Airborne adventure -- The internal situation in China becomes serious -- The crisis goes red -- The city quiets -- Chapter 8: Post Tiananmen: Destroying classified and evacuating citizens -- The Jinguomenwai Incident -- Destroying classified -- The evacuation challenge -- Beyond Tiananmen -- Back to Beijing -- My time in China winds down -- Chapter 9: Into the gathering storm: Operation Desert Shield -- United States Central Command, MacDill Air Force Base, July 1990 -- Preparing for war: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Preparing for battle: Our Arab allies -- The saga of JSTARS --- Lead-up to the air campaign -- Chapter 10: The dynamic development of BDA -- Intelligence: An integral part of the operational effort -- Planning to meet the terrain: Maps, trafficability, and weather -- Working with the National Intelligence Agencies -- Conducting the collection management orchestra -- Moving toward the final phase: Planning the ground campaign -- Iraq's aborted strike -- The Battle of Khafji -- the landing that never was -- G-Day-2: February 22, 1991 -- G-Day-1: February 23, 1991 -- The final briefings -- Chapter 11: The 100 hour war -- Final preparations for Operation Desert Spear: The ground campaign -- Ground campaign -- G-Day: February 24, 1991 -- G-Day + 1: February 25, 1991 -- G-Day + 2: February 26, 1991 -- G-Day + 3 : February 27, 1991 -- G-Day + 4 : February 28, 1991 -- Arranging the cease -fire -- Safwan: An attempt at peace -- A visit into the abyss - The Shia-Kurd uprisings -- After-Action report -- From victory to MacDill --Chpater12: Finishing what I started: My final days at CENTCOM -- Director for operations, DIA: Washington, DC, June 1992-August1995 -- Director, National Military Intelligence Collection Center -- Director, Defense HUMINT Service -- Director, Central MASINT Office -- Becoming a Harvard Fellow-- Visits to Operational organizations and areas -- Back to my roots -- My final days at the DIA and in the Army.