This is the story of the U.S. Navy SEAL Team One in Vietnam as told by twenty of the elite Navy commandos who fought there from 1962 to 1972. Here for the first time, these unorthodox and sometimes iconoclastic special warriors talk about the missions that are left out of the official histories and existing accounts. Extraordinarily gripping and personal, these narratives reveal what really happened on those covert forays. Dennis Cummings has succeeded in coaxing the SEALs to reveal what made them tick, why they volunteered for such dangerous work and returned for multiple tours in the unpopular war, how they pooled their special talents and motivations, and finally how they overcame fear, frustration, and personal losses. A counter to the uncorroborated barroom braggadocio common to other accounts, Cummings's achievement gives the best picture available of what it really meant to wear the distinctive SEAL trident insignia.