"In late November 1941, two college football teams--Willamette University and San Jose State--set sail for Honolulu for a series of games with the University of Hawaii. The players found themselves caught up in the first days of the United States' war with Japan. They arrived home on Christmas Day after a dangerous journey back across the Pacific. Almost all of the players would go on to fight in the war. This book blends battle and gridiron--along with a strong dose of human interest, of college-aged young men unexpectedly caught up in the world war"--