Return of the Brute — Liam O'Flaherty

The bombing squad of No. 2 Platoon are the dregs of the army, the toughest of the tough. But even they cannot endure forever the nightmare of war. Corporal Williams's authority is being strained past its limits by his men's wretchedness, terror, and exhaustion. Fragile Lamont, too sensitive for the inhumanity of the front, is plotting a way to escape. And the Brute that the war has unleashed is tearing Gunn apart from within...

This classic about nine very different men trying to survive exposes the horrors of war and the darkness that lurks within the human spirit.