Focus turns from Michael and his squad to Rebecca, a nurse working at a hospital in Vietnam where the casualties are sent. While life is difficult enough for her, not to mention the work she has to do, she can't imagine what it's like out in the jungle. In the combat zone. Until she ends up out there, all by herself, just trying to survive.

I was really confused as I read this book, because the official synopsis makes it sound like the story still centers around the guys in Michael's squad. They're barely in it, and the entire thing is from Rebecca's perspective. This might not have bothered me so much if I knew to expect it. Lots of readers seem to have already read the last book in the series, The Road Home, which was apparently originally marketed as a complete stand alone and wasn't connected to the series until years later. That book seems to be solely about Rebecca as well. So, then, leaving aside my disappointment at not seeing the guys much, the book was good in its own right.

Rebecca was a strange mix of different than Michael, and yet similar. She shares at least a mild belligerence toward authority with him, but she's really upbeat and whimsical. Plus, she volunteered to go to Vietnam. She's got such a heart to help, it makes her the kind of person who could so easily be too emotionally invested in all of the injured people who come through the emergency room. While it's difficult for those of us who have never been in this kind of situation to understand just how dangerous that can be, I can understand enough to feel for her.

Also because of the official synopsis, which talked about the guys finding Rebecca in the jungle, I was a little frustrated when it took so long for that whole scenario to start. And there was a scene out in the jungle that went on a lot longer than I understood. Honestly, I think we were supposed to get something out of it that I just didn't. But overall, it's still a decent book, and I tried not to let the disappointment caused by the official synopsis affect my rating (much). ( )

Twenty-one year old Lieutenant Rebecca Phillips is a nurse working in the ER of an evacuation hospital in Vietnam. During the Christmas ceasefire she goes out on a medical helicopter -- and everything goes to hell.

Rebecca’s story was the reason I was interested in this series in the first place, but I spent half of this book impatiently waiting for her to cross paths with Echo Company (and the characters I already cared about). However, I can now see how important the first part of this book is for understanding who Rebecca is before certain traumatic events happen. She’s already dealing with grief and difficult family relationships and a nightmarish workplace, but she’s a bright, upbeat person who goes out of her way to entertain others. Self-appointed “Court Jester”.

There are more medical details than I, a squeamish person, really prefer, but once I got to know Rebecca -- and also once her circumstances became tense and terrifying -- I was very, very invested.

The problem with working night shifts was that when she got off, around seven-thirty in the morning, she was too wired to go to bed. Although, okay, in truth, she was pretty much always wired. She sort of thought of herself as a 45 record in a 331/3 rpm world. One of Life’s little crosses to bear. There were those — loved ones and roommates and such — who had told her, with considerable dismay, that she even talked incessantly in her sleep. She had no problem with this, as long as her subconscious had something entertaining and/or informative to say. However, she had never really gotten a straight answer on this. Giggles, sometimes, but mainly, sighs. Deep sighs. ( )

Coming off the mentally and physically exhausting battle from 'Hill 568,' the narrative switches from Michael to follow Lt. Rebecca Phillips in 'Tis the Season. Rebecca is in Vietnam for many personal reasons, one being the army paid for her nursing degree so she's agreed to spend one year as a nurse in a field hospital in Vietnam. Full of sass herself, Rebecca impulsively jumps on a medi-vac helicopter which then crashes in the jungle and kills her friends. Bad enough right? To her horror, some of the Vietnamese rebels heard the crash which leads to one unforgettable encounter with a young solider. Later, she stumbles through the jungle on a broken ankle until coming across Michael's squad - who are just as surprised to find her as she is them. Let's just say Michael is more than a little smitten with the ballsy Lieutenant. ( )