John McCormick has crafted this haunting, unforgettable novel from his own World War II service with the U.S. Marine Corps' elite Raiders - the men in the vanguard of the island-hopping campaign to wrest control of the Pacific from the Japanese. A veteran of some of the war's bloodiest fighting, he tells the story of a gallant band of young Marines coming of age in a crucible of fire, lead, and steel. For Privates Moe, Cole, Cannon, and the other riflemen of the 3d Squad, 3d Platoon, Dog Company, the war was not all killing or being killed. While camped on islands far from the focus of battle, these free spirits hatched many a plan to foil the officers struggling to rein them in. Their hilarious misadventures provide a dramatic contrast to the sobering accounts of close-quarters combat.