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Set in 1966, this story chronicles youngsters who come in as clueless trainees and the men who serve as their drill instructors. One of the instructors is Sergeant Jackson, a Marine who has seen combat and knows how essential training is. In his first stint as a D.I., he received a less than satisfactory performance review. Given a second chance with a new platoon, he's determined to show how effective he can be even as he battles a form of what would later be called post-traumatic stress disorder. The recruits are made up of both volunteers and draftees. A few individuals are followed intimately, becoming a microcosm of how different individuals react to the rigors of intensive instruction.
Anyone who has ever wondered what it might be like to join the Marine Corps will definitely find out between the pages of this novel that has been crafted by a military veteran with years of hands-on experience as a recruit himself, a tough drill instructor, and a combat soldier. Author Brewer covers all aspects of the Vietnam era Marine recruit training in copious detail. Each of the eight weeks of basic training is broken down into what was actually required, how it was to be performed, plus the way selected individuals did or didn't master it. Brewer does a good job of keeping his characters' stories personal as the training regimen forms the narrative's plotline. Raw without being raunchy, fictional while still feeling fact-based, this is a book that accurately depicts a memorable era in the history of the United States Marine Corps.