WHAT HAPPENS when an unsophisticated Midwestern teenager, at the onset of manhood, is tossed into a free-wheeling, alien culture 8,000 miles from home in the midst of the Vietnam War? That story is crowded with the foolhardy exploits and trials and tribulations experienced by this young stranger in the strange lands of Taiwan and Vietnam. During my five years in Asia, those mind-blowing adventures as a military policeman included surviving countless bar brawls, race riots, nighttime jungle search-and-destroy missions, Vietcong rockets and multiple fierce typhoons. This story also tells the secrets of how easily it was for many of us, even a once devout kid, to succumb to the deplorable temptations of out-of-control alcohol and drug abuse. Taiwan was vital during the Vietnam conflict and it continues to remain critical to America, even today. Many of my escapades back then were transformational, launching me into an implausible rite of passage, but not always in a good way. Nonetheless, I was made in Taiwan.
