ABSTRACT
Far from the rough-and-tumble practice fields where we first learned the manhood game, and far from the cushy clubhouses where some few of us may take our ease during time-outs-far, far, far away from all of that, sons are sometimes sent to war. On the fighting field-in actual battle-the rooting voice of Coach “Irony” John is no comfort at all. In the trenches, in the foxholes, in the cockpit, in the mobile hospital, the priggish voice of Mister Mann is useless. When a son is sent into combat to fight a war, he needs much more from boot camp than Eyeball Target Practice and Manly Manners. He needs to know why he’s there. And he needs not to feel so damned scared.
