The Lieutenant

Author: Andre Dubus

Publisher: Green Street Press (1986)

At sea aboard a Navy aircraft carrier, Lt. Daniel Tierney finds himself in direct command of his Marine Corps detachment for the first time. When a minor infraction committed by promising young PFC Ted Freeman leads to a major investigation, a secret culture of initiation rituals and homosexuality is exposed on the ship. Torn between protecting Freeman and safeguarding the Marines' reputation, Tierney must come to terms with the tragic reality of a system he had once idealized.

Dubus’s first and only novel, The Lieutenant exposes the culture and politics of the United States military at the start of the Vietnam War, and reveals the common insecurities of the men whose lives were defined by it.