No one can match the special bravery and sacrifice of soldiers in combat. Nevertheless, my fifteen years working as a doctor in Southeast Asia, where I helped pick up the pieces left by wars-the Shan conflict in Burma in the 1960s, the Cambodian genocide in 1979, and the excesses of the Myanmar military junta along the Thai-Burma border in the 1990s-may lend some authority to my views on war and peace, and to my thoughts about where American medicine is falling short. This story is not intended as an inspirational book or a political statement. Instead, I write to describe some of the events that shaped my life. In so doing, I encourage readers who see obstacles blocking the road to their own goals to look for the bridges that often appear at unexpected places, making goals reachable.