In 1971, Ensign Brandon Mewling was sent to Vietnam. With other disciples, he sought to survive by celebrating a faith rooted in a "liturgy of war" that included the following elements: "Cordite, chemical and diesel were the incense lifted up. 'Patrol' was the processional, as negotiated towards the place of sacrifice. Booby traps and land mines were invocations. Ambush and engagement the call to worship. Explosion and bullet whine the hymns of praise. Blood was both baptism and offering. Inedible foods seasoned by fear and sweat the communion. Codes were scriptures, and litanies were reports and messages. And the word of the day was: 'death given, and death received.' Evacuation was the recessional, if you survived." During his tour of duty Mewling is slowly drawn into the darkness of war, yet even in the midst of destruction and apostasy, he finds a glimmer of hope. But even that is seemingly extinguished. On the edge of death, Mewling manages to survive, but at what cost and future torment?