Uncle Sam's Boys in the Ranks; Or, Two Recruits in the United States Army

Two friends. One burning question: what are they willing to fight for? In a small New Jersey town, Hal Overton and Noll Terry are done dreaming about adventure. They want the real thing. After a heated debate about what it means to serve, the boys make a pact and walk into a recruiting office, trading their small-town lives for the uncertain promise of the United States Army. Along the way, they face down a local bully named Tip Branders, navigate the bewildering first days of military life, and discover that becoming a soldier is nothing like the glorious picture they'd imagined. Yet beneath the discipline and hardship, something else emerges: the unbreakable bond between two boys who chose to grow up together, in uniform. Written in the early twentieth century, this is juvenile military fiction at its most earnest and action-driven, capturing an era when young Americans answered the call of something larger than themselves.