While the subtitle of this collection of poetry is The Vietnam War Poetry of Charles E. Patterson, and while it is true that the settings and details in the poems do apply to that particular conflict, there is much that is at the same time profoundly universal in these works. Patterson's poems are about civilians and combatants, young girls and soldiers, old men and children, friend and foe; they are about fighting and dying, about warrior anguish and regret, about pride and fear and compassion, about leaving for war, and about coming home and trying to live.