Relationships - Pick and McCoy

Since the book takes place before the outbreak of World War II, there are few combat scenes. Semper Fi is basically a novel about people and their relationships. One such relationship is that between Malcolm "Pick" Pickering and Ken McCoy. Pick meets McCoy on a train from Boston to Philadelphia. Pick is joining the Marines and wants to talk about life in the Marine Corps. They talk on the train, party in Philadelphia and then go to the Navy Yards where Pick fills out his paperwork and McCoy reports for duty. They do not meet again until they are in the Platoon Leader's Course. Pick is happy to see McCoy and to have someone to pal around with. McCoy warns him that he is a China Marine and knows that they will give him a hard time because of that. He does not want...