A raw, powerful account of an infantryman’s life during wartime– complete with all the horrors and the heroism . . .

Robert Peterson arrived in Vietnam in the fall of 1966, a young American ready to serve his country and seize his destiny. What happened in that jungle war would change his life forever. Peterson vividly relives the tense patrols in the Viet Cong-infested Central Highlands, the fierce firefights along the Cambodian border, the ambushes and enemy charges. Daily he and his fellow grunts put their lives on the line, forced to follow orders blindly from higher-ups solely interested in reaping their personal glory.

Yet out of the deadly hell of Vietnam came a brotherhood–forged in blood and courage, sacrifice and survival–of men who continuously risked their lives for one another, whatever the odds. Rites of Passage is a shining testament to their valor.