Semper Fi with a Side of Donuts or Bacon is a hybrid of fact and fiction. The story is set in 1989, Quantico, Virginia, from the perspective of Abe Rush, a woman Marine Corps captain. She is unexpectedly reassigned to train second lieutenants at the officers' Basic School (TBS), and the backbone of the story is her experiences instructing and, in many cases, suffering along with these newbies as they transition from commissioned civilians to Marine officers. This theme is largely biographical, based on the author's personal experiences.
When Abe transferred from Okinawa to Quantico, she returned with more than uniforms and souvenirs. She unknowingly brought back the ghost of a World War II Marine gunnery sergeant. He has neither memory of his name nor where he was born, even how he died, but Abe and her friend Kelly (a Marine lawyer) assume he was killed at the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. While Kelly researches Marine Corps records, Abe subjects Gunny to TV shows that might jog his memory, though both Kelly's and Abe's efforts are largely unsuccessful. Gunny endures the programmed viewing and, despite Abe's intentions, becomes a TV junkie, enamored with anything related to John Wayne or football or ALF. And he's particularly fond of donuts and bacon, which he can't taste but can certainly smell.
Gunny's perspective on the roles of women, particularly women in the military, is obviously dated. However, his perceptions of female officers and women, in general, evolves, and he gradually and grudgingly acknowledges their changed roles in the military and society almost fifty years after his death.
Gunny's name and history are eventually revealed but with a unique twist, neither he nor Abe could have imagined.
