From his birth in Racine, Wisconsin, through his schooling at West Point, to his service in the military, his life abroad, and his retirement years, Haumersen tells of a life well lived. The anecdotes cover surviving many near-death experiences from the time he was four years old and lasting through much of his military career, including drowning, narrowly escaping a mortar round by eighteen inches, being missed by snipers by less than a foot, and avoiding machine-gun fire from his own ack-ack platoon. In this memoir, Haumersen offers insight into an array of circumstances, including combat in the Korean War as well as meeting his wife, Elise, and raising a family. recalls a successful life that was based on always doing what was right.