In January 1941, the American military presence in China consists of the U.S. Navy Yangtze River Patrol; the U.S. Navy Submarine Force, China and the 4th Regiment USMC (both based in Shanghai); and the U.S. Marine Detachment, Peking. (Preface, p. 3)

"The first thing I thought, McCoy, was that you and Chatworth were involved in something dishonest, and it was a case of one crook helping another. But I just came from seeing Captain Fairbairn, and he tells me that Chatworth is a good man. Off the record, he told me that if Chatworth was getting you out of the mess you're in, that speaks highly for you, because he doesn't normally do things like that." (Chapter 2, p. 29)

He believed the key to a successful career in the Corps was to do what you were told to do as well as you could and ask no questions...