Do Not Go Gentle

Do Not Go Gentle, first published in 1960, is a poignant novel about the U.S. Marines in World War II. The book focuses on Norman MacLeod, growing up in the tough Depression-era town of Butte, Montana. After his father succumbs to a mining-related disease, young Norman leaves school and also begins working in the copper mines. Following the death of his closest friend in an mine accident and the moving of his mother and sister to relatives back East, Norman enlists in the Marines. The book follows MacLeod through boot camp, life on and off base, and then to the South Pacific where MacLeod and his fellow Marines face both their fears and the Japanese. On leave in the U.S., Norm visits the wife of a killed comrade, and begins a relationship with her. Filled with gritty scenes and no-holds-barred dialog, Do Not Go Gentle remains a minor classic in the field of novels about men at war.