Joining the Army at 17, the author went in with high hopes and sterling ideals; coming from a family with a proud military background. What he discovered was a disenchanting web of mundane corruption and self-serving lies. Unlike accounts exposing the military's most shameful iniquities, the author's memoir focuses on an endless parade of petty offenses- the cowardice, drug addiction, thievery, adultery and rampant hypocrisy- he found while working in a base hospital. Relentlessly honest and reflective, the author communicates perfectly the stranglehold of sadness, fear and disappointment that came with his lost innocence; just as worse is his eventual acceptance of the pointless, dysfunctional bureaucracy maintaining the status quo.

This is the time when logic and reason need to override emotion -- ... I hate the Army and wish I'd never joined -- It's the science that drives us mad -- How are we supposed to spot the real suicidal people when everyone has suicidal symptoms? -- I wasn't prepared for this -- We are in the middle of fighting a war and our leader has given himself a month-long vacation -- The Army can't order me to put something in my body -- I need something to take the edge off -- When I close my eyes I dream of death and war-When I open my eyes I see death and war -- If someone feels an emotion but doesn't allow themselves to express it, where does it go? -- I've survived all of this, but I'm still afraid to go back to the real world -- The Army made me a man.