During the height of the Vietnam War, the Army resorted to a bait-and-switch scam that recruited thousands of unsuspecting college graduates into its combat ranks. Marc and Eliot join to become signal officers but are switched to the infantry, a misfortune that turns their beloved diplomas into one-way tickets to the jungles of Vietnam. Finding uncertainty in a certain war, they manage to avoid the dreaded infantry. Eliot re-ups to become a journalist and write military propaganda in Saigon, while Marc lucks-out and becomes a company clerk in base camp. But when Marc comes face-to-face with the company's point man, he sees something compelling and can no longer sit idle on the sidelines. This is a story of survival, not only on the battlefield, but in the mind of a soldier who doesn't know why others always die in his place. Xray is the phonetic word for the letter X, but for Marc Doria, it is more than just his call sign. It becomes his mark-an x-ray of his brain, the title of his diary, and the means of his very existence. All descriptions of combat operations involving Delta Company are authentic and based upon the experiences of the author.