"I WANTED TO SERVE, TO BE PART OF THIS THING MY FATHER HAD GIVEN HIS
LIFE FOR. I DIDN'T WANT THE WAR TO END, AND ALL I'D BE ABLE TO SAY WAS,
NO I DIDN'T SERVE, I WAS RIGHT HERE THE WHOLE WAR, SAFE IN
BAKERSFIELD."
Adam Pelko witnessed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that killed his
father, a lieutenant on the USS Arizona. Even though Adam is underage,
he defies his mother's wishes and enlists in the Marines. Sent first to
boot camp, then to Okinawa, he experiences the stark reality of war
firsthand -- the camaraderie and the glory as well as the grueling
regimen, the paralyzing fear, and death. And at every turn, Adam must
confront memories of his father.
In the concluding volume of his World War II trilogy, Harry Mazer
masterfully illustrates Adam's journey as he navigates brutal
circumstances that no boy should know.