Abstract:
Bounced from Prep school, joins Army, fights in New Guinea and Philippines. Experiences close combat, friendly fire. Shot in battle that wins his battalion a Presidential Citation.. He sails 2,500 miles to a New Guinea hospital. Transferred to Quartermaster, he goes AWOL, flies on B-24. to rejoin his buddies still fighting. He lives with Filipinos while seeking outfit, learns where they are fighting; hitches ride from deserters. Refusing to join band, he’s tried for his life by kangaroo court. (He “knows too much.”) Readers relate to the characters, Infantry GIs, my friends, heroes, not glamour boys. When they die, readers mourn.