After struggling through a challenging childhood afflicted with asthma, overcoming dyslexia, and dealing with an abusive father, Frederick "Skip" Burkle was determined to become a physician. Despite the odds, he achieved that goal and then entered the Navy as a draftee. His first assignment was deployment to a combat base in South Vietnam close to the DMZ, one of the most violently contested areas in that war-torn country. Besides treating combat casualties, Dr. Burkle provided humanitarian medical care to local civilians, many of whom were suffering from the wounds of war plus living with a host of tropical diseases. That deployment not only introduced him to Vietnamese culture but also to the type of medicine he would continue to practice for the rest of his career.

In this memoir, Burkle shares his story as a pioneer in global disaster medicine. He served in three major wars and multiple country conflicts, and escaped assassination attempts during his position as the Interim Health Minister of Iraq. Burkle's story reveals the challenges of practicing medicine in war-torn areas; he dealt with complex political and power struggles, negotiations, and the poverty-stricken aftermath of conflict. He also shared his skills with health care professionals around the world, earning him a legacy as the "father of disaster medicine."