From the cotton fields of South Carolina to the killing fields of Southeast Asia, this journey made by one black man is the story of struggle and finally glorious awakening. It begins with a boy searching for his identity and making his way though adolescence as the Civil Rights movement explodes. As events take him to Viet Nam, Alfonso Gamble, Sr. feels his heart begin to open and he volunteers for a second tour of duty in the war-ravaged nation. In the end, his return home to a weary and conflicted nation draw him into a downward spiral that is deepened by the deaths of close friends and loved ones. But, in what Gamble calls the "earth school of life," he finds redemption when he meets one special person who leads him back to a place of peace and beauty.