Captain Sad Sam Gerdine is marking time at Camp Pendleton in the summer of 1950. He's finally been given command of the rifle company he worked for with such focus that he lost both his wife and the child he loves. It's not much of a command in the diminished post-World War II Marine Corps, but he's doing his best with an outfit that includes rascals, rejects, and-fortunately-a solid cadre of anxious young officers and savvy, combat-hardened senior...