Mike Brown shares how he and his co-pilot, CPT Marco Cordon landed their AH-1G Cobra helicopter after the entire tail-boom was blown off by a North Vietnamese SA-7 Strella surface-to-air missile during the Battle of An Loc in June 1972. The event is set in a context that includes descriptions of the experiences of Mike and his unit, F Battery, 79th Artillery (Blue Max), before and after the shoot-down. The account continues describing how the event continued to influence and shape Mike's life afterward.