[Jacquerie]

Any man who served on tincans in war is a real man.

[rlmorel]

Agreed.

I can recommend two EXCELLENT books that touch on a lot of that sentiment you voiced. One of them is "Halsey's Typhoon" and the other is "Neptune's Inferno"."Neptune's Inferno"

(check out the link for a WSJ review of "Neptune's Inferno"...very good. The NYT probably never heard of it.)

If you are interested, both stories are extraordinary.