In this vivid memoir, a young man's search for meaning takes him from college in the 1950s to the edge of everything-riding a wild bull in a rodeo, hitchhiking across America, battling forest fires, commanding a destroyer under a mercurial captain, and enduring the punishing trials of UDT-SEAL training. Along the way, he finds adventure, absurdity, and moments of unexpected grace. Gritty, funny, and unsentimental, the book offers a rare insider's look at the formative years of the Navy's most elite warriors and a generation that refused to live safely.