In 1990, U.S. Army Major Martin Stanton was a military adviser stationed in Saudi Arabia. Encouraged by the army to broaden his cultural horizons, and assured by the U.S. embassy that Kuwait was perfectly safe, Stanton took off for a long weekend there. Roused by gunshots his first night in Kuwait City, Stanton looked out the window ... and discovered he was in the middle of a full-scale invasion.Iraq's Gulf War had begun - and in the Kuwait City Sheraton, overlooking the entire western part of town, the United States had an army officer sitting in the front row. As bullets smacked into the hotel's facade, Stanton wasted no time grabbing his international calling card and phoning in intelligence reports to his superiors. He noted the arrival of the first tanks and their strategic deployment - to places with the most shade - as well as the Sheraton's transition from hotel to Iraqi military headquarters. From the top floor of the hotel, Stanton would scour the surrounding streets with his binoculars, then descend to the lobby, where he'd lounge around the door of the Iraqi command post's map room - conveniently and comfortably converted from the Sheraton's conference room - gleaning what he could. Without a doubt, the Pentagon had scored a major coup.Yet Stanton's prime "position" was short lived. Rounded up by the enemy, he would spend the next four months in Iraq as one of Saddam's "guests" - also known as human shields - as the western "hostages" were shifted among various strategic facilities: chemical weapons factories, oil refineries, and power plants. Despite his dire circumstance, Stanton nevertheless strove at all times to do his duty to the best of his ability. Continually taking notes and looking for ways to smuggle out information, he made the most of his captivity. In his role as a roving human shield, Stanton saw more of Iraq than he ever wanted to. Fortunately, he was released in time to fight the Gulf War with his Saudi unit. Read Less