How does a cocky 19-year-old get out of the double grip of his stern Polish mother and his bosses at the curtain factory? If it's the Korean War era, he joins the service. As the USS Columbus tours the Mediterranean, the rebellious sailor from New Jersey enters the peculiar domain of the Southern petty officer, and the result is a saga of screwups, confrontation, growth, and transformation.

Readers who came to know the Depression-era kid from Poland on the Passaic will enjoy watching the boy become a man.