1950s 1960s 20th-century action action-packed adrenaline adrenaline-rush adventure adversity aerial-combat aerial-warfare air-combat air-force aircraft ambition american american-history american-literature american-military american-soldiers american-war anti-war anti-war-sentiment army atmospheric authentic autobiography aviation aviators battle battle-experiences battlefield battles betrayal biography bravery brotherhood brutality camaraderie character-development character-driven combat coming-of-age competition comradeship conflict courage danger death destiny determination disillusionment drama duty emotional endurance epic exhilarating existentialism fear fiction fighter-jets fighter-pilots first-hand-account firsthand-account flying friendship frontline gripping grit gritty guerilla-warfare guerrilla-warfare guilt harrowing helicopter helicopters heroism historical historical-fiction historical-nonfiction history honor humanity infantry innocence intense intensity james journalism jungle jungle-warfare karl-marlantes korean-war leadership literary-fiction literature loss love love-affairs love-triangle loyalty marine-corps marines masculinity memoir military military-fiction military-history military-life military-memoir military-service moral-dilemmas morality mortality non-fiction nonfiction novel obsession passion patriotism perseverance personal-account personal-experience personal-narrative perspective pilots platoon politics post-traumatic-stress-disorder post-war psychological psychological-effects psychological-effects-of-war psychological-impact psychological-trauma psychological-warfare ptsd pulitzer-prize pursuit realism realistic redemption reflection relationships resilience risk risk-taking rivalry romance sacrifice salter self-discovery soldier soldiers soldiers-perspective southeast-asia storytelling strategy struggle survival suspense suspenseful tension the-hunters thrill thrilling tragedy trauma triumph true-story us-marines veteran veterans victory vietnam vietnam-conflict vietnam-veteran vietnam-war vietnam-war-literature violence war war-atrocities war-correspondent war-experience war-experiences war-fiction war-journalism war-literature war-memoir war-novel war-stories war-story war-strategy war-trauma war-veterans war-zone warfare world-war-ii