Written in first person, this cathartic military fiction, comes at us from the boots of a young American; bored and unchallenged with life, he joins the United States Marine Corps looking for a wake-up call. Slowly morphing into a warrior, he experiences the wake-up call he was looking for. When he responds to it, albiet 20 years later, he receives the gifts he never knew he earned. A complete heroes journey, 'Earned innocence' answers the silent question in its titile. Even if it is earned and deserved, is it possible to regain ones innocence?