Second Lieutenant Kenneth J McCoy, USMCR

Second Lieutenant Kenneth McCoy is the main character of the novel. McCoy is dating a woman named Ernie Sage, who he meet though a mutual friend, Second Lieutenant Malcolm, Pick, Pickering. McCoy refuses to marry Ernie because he does not think that Marine officers about to be sent over seas should be married. However, she does move to San Diego with him when he is stationed there while training with the Raiders.

McCoy is what they call a China Marine, meaning he speaks the language; actually, he speaks two dialects and Japanese. McCoy was wounded badly in an attack in the Philippines after the strike on Pearl Harbor and because of all the people he killed; he got the nickname "Killer McCoy," which he does not like.

McCoy has a sister and a brother, his brother is in the military, although he is...