To those who went through flight school during WWII, his accounts of the trials, and sometimes failures, of a flying officer in training ring authentic, as does the sometimes pettiness of the armed forces and the hurry-up-and-wait process that dogged us as we impatiently waited to get into action. He also details the drinking, the sexual adventures, and other less savory, perhaps, actions of men at war. When he finally arrived overseas in early 1945, the actual combat was somewhat of an anti-climax. No great aerial battles, relatively few losses, and much relatively routine patrol work. In fact, the most terrifying event was after the war when a giant typhoon hit Okinawa and his base. As is true of those in service, he seems oblivious of the war other than his own small part. He was stationed, for example, on Saipan in April for two weeks or so awaiting assignment, but makes no mention of the many B-29 operations from there or neighboring Tinian against Japan.
A curious thing about the book is that before he went overseas, he was married. Viritually nothing is said of his wife, her letters, of the relationship. Much more is said of he and his Marine buddies trying to obtain booze and other leisure pursuits, in addition to combat.. Perhaps Hynes marriage was one of those wartime marriages that didn't last. On the other hand, maybe it's none of our business since Hynes' purpose is to try and give one a realistic view of training to go to war and the event itself. In this regard he succeeds brilliantly.
