August 1969-Ted Bertson is back from a summer of singing in Italy, thinking that he and his wife, Karen, will soon be living their dream. They are entering the fourth year of a good marriage; he has a signed contract from the University of Dubuque to join the music faculty; and they will soon be starting a family.

Then a draft notice arrives in the mail. Two weeks later, Bertson is in the U.S. Army. Four months later, he is in Vietnam serving as an Army chaplain's assistant, a job that few people know about. It sounds like a cushy job that will keep him "behind the lines"-except in Vietnam there are no lines. No person or place is completely safe.

Behind every soldier in the field there are ten "support troops" who do the paperwork, make sure supplies are delivered, tend to the wounded, and care for their spiritual and emotional needs. Support troops are not considered to be heroic, but in Vietnam they are often attacked because they are necessary.

The Chaplain's Assistant: God, Country, and Vietnam, the story of just one of those under-the-radar support troops, details an experience that forever changes Bertson and his love for the country he serves.