and honor. The title of the book is inspired by the author's gradual discovery over many year's that the notion that playing by the rules will bring you success and happiness is an idealistic myth. Justin played by the rules of his parents, his church, his small town and the U.S. Marine Corps only to discover the bitter hypocrisy lurking just below the surface.

I'm one of those who always wants a look behind the scenes. I'm always curious about someone's back story and how they got to the point in their life where I first encountered them. How does a leader become a leader, especially when no one is following?

What Justin's story illustrates is that anyone who cares about telling the truth, standing up to injustice and whois tenacious enough, will ultimately succeed. What is most striking to me about this story is the irony. The Marines trained this young farm boy to be a soldier and warrior who would win at all costs, then tried to get him to shut up and go away when he applied this training to his innate sense of right and wrong and his need to be true to himself.

Justin tells of the stress of living his closeted life in the Marines, the thriving secret gay subculture in the military, his ongoing struggle for acceptance by his homophobic, conservative Christian family, his difficult decision to come out and the toll it took on his career and personal life and relationships. Despite the occasional doubts about whether it was worth