Customer Reviews

Sense of Honor (Bluejacket Books)

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"A Sense of Honor," the novel by James Webb, tells a story of life at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis and is set in 1968. Webb looks at the fiercely regimented life of the school's midshipman, who prepare to become Navy and Marine Corps officers as the Vietnam War rages on. The book jacket notes that Webb is himself a graduate of the Naval Academy and a highly decorated Marine.

The main characters in the novel include the following. Bill Fogarty is a first class (senior) midshipman; he is a tough, disciplined man who boxes and aspires to be a Marine Corps officer. John Dean is a fourth class (freshman) midshipman; he's academically brilliant, but also a whiny misfit who enrages the upperclassmen. Ted Lenahan is a Marine Corps captain, a combat veteran of Vietnam whose job is to mentor midshipman.

These and other characters are among the elements that make this a gripping novel. Webb has crafted a vivid and revealing portrait of Annapolis life--the rituals and slang, as well as relationships among midshipmen, academic faculty, and officer mentors. Through his characters Webb asks piercing questions about leadership and character. Particularly interesting is his presentation of a contrast between "technocrats" and "warriors" in the officer corps.

Webb captures the pain, loneliness, frustration, pride, and triumph of military life. He evokes a sense of the midshipman forming a "tribe," a sort of highly specialized subculture within the larger military culture. Although over 20 years old, this book remains powerful and relevant as a new generation of midshipman continue to learn and train in the shadow of the war on terror.

Being a huge fan of military colleges, I was pleased as punch at finding this book. I have never been to Annapolis neither do I know anyone who has gone there. But I can not help but feel that this is what it really must have been like to attend the school at least in the 1960's ...

Anyway some of the reasons I feel that this is an accurate description of the school is that James Webb is a decorated member of the military and one of the schools most illustrious graduates. He isn't some disgruntled man who wants to get back at the school by writing a bitter memoir as is the case with Lucien Truscott "Dress Grey" (based on his time at West Point). Another thing I loved about this book is how Webb rips off the shinny veneer of Annapolis being an elitist institution. Too many times when you read a book about the service academies the author makes it look like paradise on earth. There is none of this in a Sense of Honor. Yes you can get the sense that while Annapolis is a great school it is certainly not perfect and without its probblems.

I think that this book is one of the most balanced books I have ever read. A Sense of Honor basically covers three stages of men who have attended Annapolis. There is Ted Lenehan a marine corps officer and Annapolis grad who has returned to the school as Tactical officer after being injured in Vietnam. Bill Fogarty a gung ho fourth year or first class midshipman who though he sometimes complains about the life he has to endure at Annapolis is whole-heartedly devouted to the military and can not abide those who are not ship shape. John Dean a first year midshipmen or plebe who has transfered to Annapolis simply for the "education" he hates the military life but by the end of the story he finds out what he is made of. The story takes place over the period of about at week, but amazingly Webb seems to cover every facet of the school its traditions, to the pranks that the mids play on their commanding officers.

Why this book has not been made into a film yet is beyond me. It really is that good.

I've read this excellent work three times - each reading has provided me with inspiration and valuable perspective for different stages of my life. I first read this novel as a high school student in 1986, when I was pursuing an appointment to the Academy. I went to my local library in New York and checked out what proved to be the only book about the Naval Academy. It provided me with the "big picture" prior to immersion in the hell of Plebe Year. Boy was I glad that I had read it - braced up against a bulkhead in the 120 degree heat of a "hotbox" (metal connector between two wings of Bancroft Hall) holding my M-14 straight out ahead of me, desperately hoping that I wouldn't be the "weak link" in my platoon to drop his piece. Later on in Plebe year, I read it again - it gave me the resolve to persevere through the "dark ages" - and survive a solo comearound with the Brigade Commander. Finally, I read it after graduating the Academy in '92, and it gave me a completely different view on what I'd just survived - not as a Plebe, desperately trying to make it to Herndon, but as a leader with responsibilities to do the right thing - damn the consequences... and it also allowed me to finally understand the original dedication that is completely cryptic to all but Academy graduates. This is a perfect gift (that, until this edition, has long been out of print) for anyone contemplating attending the Naval Academy or for someone who needs to garner an understanding about the neccessary "harshness" of military life.

I read this book first - at the "invitation" of my First Set "firstie", Scott Brooks - during my 1982 plebe summer at the US Naval Academy. I come back to reread it about every 5 years; it takes me back to a time which still both saddens and thrills me. The book's description of ordinary life at Bancroft is enough to entertain; yet the contrast in Dean and Fogarty provides a gritty method of exposing the difference in thought among men only three years removed, men developing during the social upheaval of the 60's. It is hard to determine without some thought who (Dean or Fogarty) possesses the "moral high ground". Perhaps both are right. More certainly, both are flawed. In any case, the story clearly gave notice of the "shifting plates" vis-a-vis the "old guard/new guard" military. In any case, it is a story whom anybody associated with Annapolis could instantly understand; on the other hand, those with no affiliation with the service academies will read Webb's story and come away with an appreciation of both the sacrifice, suffering and intense pride of those who chose this "type" of education.

Incredible book. As a Citadel graduate, I am partial to Pat Conroy's The Lords of Discipline as the pentultimate account of life in a military college, but Webb's work is neck and neck. Where Conroy takes four years and multiple twisting plots, Webb takes only five days out of the life of the Naval Academy to make his points.

The struggle between the warriors and the technocrats that Webb writes about in the late sixties still exists today. As an member of the faculty as an active duty officer in the mid 90's, I can attest that each of Webb's characters were alive and well in the Yard during that time, only the backdrop was the tamer Gulf War, as opposed to the Vietnam conflict. The war between the "geeks" and the "grunts" rages on. The military is more apt to recruit the skinny kids with the 4.0's in computer science (Webb's John Dean) than the all-around, rough and tough, swashbuckling athletic warriors (Bill Fogarty). Cadets and midshipman are starved for the leaderhip provided by Fogarty and CAPT Leneman, yet the deck is stacked against them by the CDR Pratt's of the world.

A must read...I dare you to put it down.

When my son was offered an appointment to the United States Naval Academy I decided to find out as much as I could about it. I hadn't heard of this book, but in my search on Amazon it came up with so many favorable reviews that I bought it. I am primarily a reader of non-fiction, but the author of this book crafted it carefully from his memories at Annapolis. The characters are fictional, but many think they are portrayals of the author Webb himself, and possibly of his rival Oliver North of iran Contra fame. The scenes depicted seem real. The daily life of the midshipmen was riveting. I found the book to be a complete hit, and my son did too. The ending was a surprise to me, and I am not sure I know who the heroes and villians are. I have recommended it to others, and think readers that give it a chance won't be disappointed.

I read this book last year and really enjoyed. Now I understand it and appreciate "A Sense of Honor" a great deal more. Why? Because I am a plebe at the U.S. Naval Academy. I'm struggling and having doubts like John Dean. Like Bill Fogarty I may end up leaving because of reasons I cannot truly comprehend. One thing is for sure, "A Sense of Honor" really stirred something inside of me and has helped me comprehend the magnitude of being a midshipmen, regardless of whether or not I graduate (I hope that I do)!

"A Sense of Honor" is such a superb book on many facets, perhaps most glaringly as that rare written work that captures part of what it means to be at Annapolis. In this novel, one can find most of the feelings, conflicts, and the simeltaneous terror and pride that often characterizes that experience. As a graduate of the institution, I have seen no written work that better portrays the inner workings inside the walls of Bancroft Hall.

USNA graduate James Webb served his country heroically in war and peace, and serves us all yet again by writting this book. The Naval Academy shaped, for better or worse, people Americans are interested in; John McCain, Jimmy Carter, Ross Perot and Oliver North, among others. Web tells a fictional tale of an episode that certainly happens several times a year in Annapolis. From this, even the first time reader can draw the connection between what exactly that institution teaches about honor and service, and what the graduate takes from that lesson.

Although many of the practices written about in the novel no longer happen at the Naval Academy, it is still a realistic look at the pressures and expectations of both plebes and upperclass at the Academy. I read this before my plebe year and it helped prepare me for some of the injustices I would later experience. Even if you know nothing about the Academy, it is an excellent and interesting book--it is especially heartwrenching to hear how the names of the Academy graduates lost in Vietnam were read to the Brigade of Midshipmen every day. Once again, a great book.

I have admired Jim Webb since I first heard about him from a close friend, Mike McGarvey. Mike was in Jim Webb's platoon in Vietnam and has remained close to him. Mike lost his right arm just below the shoulder while serving with Jim. One thing about Mike best describes his feelings about his service as a Combat Marine. He has a tattoo of a dotted line around the bottom of his stump and above it the words, "cut on dotted line". Mike is a Patriot in the truist sense. I gave a copy of, "A Sense Of Honor" to a friend's daughter to read just before entering the Naval Academy. She had led a sheltered life to put it mildly. The book allowed her to go in with a "heads up" that would have otherwise been impossible. She receive many awards and honors while attending the Academy and gradutated with honors. The book is not only entertaining but very informative. This is probably the best revelation of what our Navy and Marine Officers go through just to earn the right to become the leaders of the World's finest Sailors and Marines. I wish I could have read "Fields Of Fire" before I served as a Field Radio Operator with 1/3 in the Northern I Corps in '69. Oh yes, Mike is now director of the prosthetics department at a VA hospital.