[SamAdams76]

I was not particularly alarmed at the attitude towards women in the book. In fact, I think the women characters in the book held their own pretty well.

The wife of Captain Holmes (Karen) definitely gave as good as she got. Apparently she chewed up a lot of men and spit them out way before SSgt Warden came on the scene. BTW, the notion of an enlisted man having an affair with his CO's wife is preposterous in today's military. I just see no way that this could happen (obviously conditions were different in 1941). The separation between officers and enlisted are obviously much greater today than it was back then. When I was in the service in the early 1980s, there were very strict rules about fraternization not just between officers and enlisted, but also between NCO's and "non-rates." When I made Sergeant, it was made quite clear to me that I was not to hang out with privates and lance corporals after duty.

Lorene, the prostitute girlfriend of Prewitt, was another strong character. She had a plan to make as much money as she could in the whorehouse and then she was to go back to the United States (remember, Hawaii hadn't yet achieved statehood at that time) and take care of her family.

Mrs. Kipfer, the "owner" of the whorehouse is another strong character who doesn't seem to put up with much. (The "Mrs." in her name does make me curious and it is never explained in the book.)

[WHATNEXT?]

I agree there were strong female characters. My comments referred to male attitudes toward women. It's OK, you guys can stop defending yourselves. It's alright. It is as it is.

[PJ-Comix]

The separation between officers and enlisted are obviously much greater today than it was back then.

Actually I think there was a much greater separation back then. At that time a lot of the officers were from the elite class of America or what today might be termed Yuppies. I don't think as many of those type of folks are in the military now. Patton and MacArthur were examples of this elite class in the military.

[PJ-Comix]

What was interesting is how much of what James Jones said about Hawaiian whorehouses was confirmed on the History Channel during their "Sex In WWII" series. Did you see that? Also I found out that Jones and a friend hung out at those whorehouses a lot just to be near the hookers because of a fascination with them. However, I understood they were so scared of diseases that they didn't actually participate in the "rituals." I think Jones might have been fibbing a bit on that.

There are many letters that Jones wrote to his brother back in the states that is a rich sort of material about Jones in Hawaii.

[Little Bill]

It was very common to call the Madam of a cat house "Mrs". My grandfather and I were very close and in the tales of his ramblings in Western Canada before WW1, a few MRS's came up.