Author joined the Marine Corps during World War II much to the amazement and dismay of friends and family in Buffalo New York. Assigned to Quantico Marine Corps Base, author enjoyed her time in the Marine Corps; she met women from around the country and broadened her horizons, although she ended up married to a Greek Army veteran from Buffalo well known to her family. Both were able to go to school on the G.I. Bill and eventually moved to California. Great book about the constraints of life for working class ethnic women and how the service enabled many to break inherited boundaries.