This memoir traces the life of Admiral Loy from his boyhood in Altoona, Pennsylvania, to the culmination of his service career, as Commandant of the Coast Guard from 1998 to 2002. The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 occurred on his watch, and he was responsible for leading his service’s reaction to them. Loy was a Coast Guard Academy cadet, 1960-64, and played on the basketball team. As a junior officer he served in the high-endurance cutter USCGC Absecon (WAVP-374) in 1964-65, commanded the patrol boat USCGC Cape Falcon (WPB-95330) in 1965-66, and commanded the patrol boat USCGC Point Lomas (WPB-82321) in Vietnam in 1966-67. He was on the long-range planning staff at Coast Guard Headquarters in 1967-68, a postgraduate student at Wesleyan University in 1969-70, and on the faculty of the Coast Guard Academy from 1970 to 1974. He served 1974-76 as executive officer of the medium-endurance cutter USCGC Courageous (WMEC-622) and from 1976 to 1979 at the Coast Guard Officer Candidate School, Yorktown, Virginia. From 1979 to 1981 he commanded the medium-endurance cutter USCGC Valiant (WMEC-621) and in 1981-84 served in the Officer Personnel Division of Coast Guard Headquarters. Loy commanded the high-endurance cutter USCGC Midgett (WHEC-726) in 1985-86 before serving from 1986 to 1989 as executive assistant to the Commandant, Admiral Paul Yost. Loy’s final billet as a captain was in 1989-90 as chief of the operations division, Coast Guard Atlantic Area. From 1990 to 1992 he commanded the Eighth Coast Guard District in New Orleans, then headed the Personnel and Training Division in Coast Guard Headquarters from 1992 to 1994. In 1994-96 was he was Commander Coast Guard Atlantic Area and from 1996-98 served as Coast Guard Chief of Staff at headquarters in Washington before becoming Commandant. After retiring from active military duty, he served 2002-03 as Deputy and Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration and 2003-05 as Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security.