Along with [b:Surrender|15727045|Surrender|Robb White|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1340930369s/15727045.jpg|2368697] and [b:Combat Nurses of World War II|4916266|Combat Nurses of World War II (Landmark Books #116)|Wyatt Blassingame|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1223148841s/4916266.jpg|4981818] and [b:Two Dogs and a Horse|1901769|Two Dogs and a Horse|Jim Kjelgaard|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1234807478s/1901769.jpg|1903462], this is one of the most formative books of my early childhood. A product of its times, this novel is without a doubt xenophobic and racist and nationalist, the way John Wayne movies are xenophobic and racist and nationalist. So I'm ashamed to still love it. But like the Star Spangled Banner this book gets to me every time, even when I remind myself that I'm the victim of early thought control. My most beloved scene of all time is in this novel, when Marines escape from a sunken submarine by continuously blowing out the pressurized air out of their lungs while gently floating to the surface, supposedly never running out of air even though the journey takes six minutes. I have no idea if that would work but it's a great scene. ( )