The colonel’s memoir, with both graphic descriptions and pictures, describes how he…..both actually and literally…..“rose from the ashes” following a fiery aircraft accident in the mountains of Tennessee, and went on to survive numerous other close calls which make up eight of the nine lives embodied the in the course of his 26 year flying career. His survival from that horrific accident and his miraculous recovery to get back into the cockpit and fly again are only part of this story. He went on to fly numerous life-saving rescue missions in heavily forested mountain areas, dense tropical jungles and out at sea. And he is actually employed his helicopter as a firefighting vehicle to recover aircrew members trapped in their burning plane. The reader will be astonished with the incredible…..almost unbelievable…..situations and events the author has found himself confronted with in the cockpit, coping with the extremes of dangerous weather conditions, hostile action of various forms and the complexity of adverse international foreign airspace restrictions. As he became increasingly senior and commanded unit personnel, it entailed the direction and control of rescue resources, including the adequate provisioning for aircraft and equipment, but more importantly, the aspect of Flight Safety and the overall management, supervision and inclusive welfare of those subordinates. Then, as he became a senior officer, his duties were more complex and far-reaching in nature, often involving conflictive issues with regard to traditional policies, which often had both moral and ethical overtones. The latter, in turn, all too frequently placed the colonel in a confrontational and often a hostile environment, where in his tenure, assignments, and career paths were adversely affected. These later chapters provide considerable first-hand insight with regard to political and structural aspects of upper-level military management. You are invited, as you read on, to contemplate just how you would fare in those situations wherein you were faced with carrying out in order which your conscience told you was unfair, illegal or unjust, or was restrained from the successful completion of a mission due to outdated and/or inflexible policies and regulations.