Growing up is never easy. This true story, "So Close to Dying," is a journey of remembrance, a narrative and photographic essay of coming of age in the 1950's and 1960's in the United States. It is the journey of a little boy to a man, moving from one misadventure to the next and filled with laughter, joy, heartache, and vulnerability on an unintentional path to maturity. As he grows up, learning to cope with life's realities: within school, within his own family, and within the sphere of his own needs and desires, he finds his struggle all-encompassing and not without peril; he also finds that life is grand. His journey must play out against the late sixties, where the winds of social change blow through the fabric of America. The fight for civil rights rages, the Viet Nam war is in full swing, and many young men in America will receive a draft notice. With these realities in play, our protagonist must make a moral choice, and his all-or-nothing approach to life takes him to OCS, Quantico, Virginia and the Marine Corps, and finally as a helicopter pilot to Viet Nam, where his life will change forever. I trust the progression of this story of growing up in the fifties and sixties, from a little boy with often misdirected energy, but a kind heart, to a young man with a modicum of direction and self-esteem, but with that same heart, will resonate with some of you, make you laugh, make you cry, and affirm how precious is this gift of life.