Hail the Conquering Hero

Having been discharged from the Marines for a hayfever condition before ever seeing action, Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith delays the return to his hometown, feeling that he is a failure. While in a moment of melancholy, he meets up with a group of Marines who befriend him and encourage him to return home to his mother by fabricating a story that he was wounded in battle with honorable discharge.

• small town
• mother
• hero
• truth
• confession
• world war ii
• mayor
• lie
• marine corps
• satire
• war hero
• u.s. marine
• dead father
• military discharge
• false pretenses
• reluctant hero
• hero worship
• taken under wing
• hero's fall
• mayoral election
• allergies
• return to hometown
• honorable