A TASTE OF WAR appeals to the military veteran who remembers the experience or the person who simply wants to view the war through the eyes of a veteran who lived it. Memories of a Vietnam Veteran - Sharing the loneliness, uncertainties, leadership challenges, boredom, and a small taste of the horrors of war, Powell reluctantly recalls calling artillery fire upon the enemy and the never-to-be-forgotten sounds of bullets whizzing by and of jet aircraft streaking overhead to save the lives of his men. From his first night to his last days in Vietnam, routine assignments suddenly became life threatening. Time and time again, death stalked. Yet time and time again, the men of the Second Platoon faced death and rode away. Death was not to be denied. One day and in seconds, 10 men of the Second Platoon began their journey home in a flag-draped coffin.