A vivid description and historical account in 1961 of a young, Jewish teenager "at the point" of making major decisions affecting his future.

Paul Kantrowich's narrative describes a roller-coaster wave of emotional and physical hardship in taking on the challenges of "Beast Barracks" and Plebe year at the finest military institution in the United States, West Point.

This memoir's assertions pull no punches in the author's cathartic effort to recognize the touchstone moments of his past.