When Samuel Hynes left his home in Minnesota in 1943, he did so in order to become a marine pilot. When World War Two ended, Hynes was an experienced fighter pilot, who had flown several missions in the Pacific. For Samuel Hynes, World War Two would open the door to a much larger world. Over the course of this war, the boy from Minnesota would become a man. Once he had enlisted, he grew impatient with what he called the "hurry-up and wait" mentality displayed by the military. He was also disappointed at the amount of drinking, and sexual activity that he and other soldiers participated in.
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Hynes was put-off by all of the droll and drudgery he experienced after he first joined the Marines. The regimentation, the drills, etc. By the time he had earned his wings, and had completed training as a Torpedo Bomber Pilot, the war was coming to an end, but he would see action at Okinawa. By the time the war finally did end, Hynes had flown over 100 missions in the Pacific.
Samuel Hynes cherished the red alert of war as a high point in his life, a point that his life would never reach again. Looking back, Samuel Hynes discovers that the decade of the 1940s was filled with moments of hatred, love, and deliverance, for both himself, and for all people.
The review of this Book prepared by Nathaniel Ford
