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Act 1, Scene 1

• Arnold Epstein, Joseph Wykowski, Roy Selridge, Donald Carney, and Eugene Morris Jerome ride the train to boot camp, bickering whenever they wake.

• Eugene addresses the audience, complaining about the trip and outlining the characters and backgrounds of his fellow soldiers.

• Eugene outlines his three goals for the war: becoming a writer, not getting killed, and losing his virginity.

Act 1, Scene 2

• The soldiers arrive in Biloxi, Mississippi, and immediately run into conflicts with their controlling and unreasonable drill sergeant, Sergeant Toomey, who came back from North Africa with a steel plate in his head.

• Toomey won't let Epstein, who has a bad stomach, go to the bathroom.

• Toomey punishes Eugene by making the other soldiers do push-ups when Eugene gives answers he doesn't like, so that the soldiers will punish each other.

Act 1, Scene 3

• The mess-hall food is inedible, but Private James Hennessey has been on KP...

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