Soldier Boys by Tom Turner is about a young man, Whitaker Crewes, who, struggling to forge an identity, is leading dual lives, heterosexual and homosexual. When he joins the Army Reserve in 1962 he expects to find a bastion of machismo but discovers that training is filled with homoeroticism. While striving to build up his body, Crewes forges bonds with other men similarly conflicted. As he becomes stronger Crewes realizes just who he truly is.