Through the Wheat

by Thomas Boyd

"Through the Wheat" by Thomas Boyd is a novel published in 1923. It follows William Hicks, a young Marine automatic rifleman, through his harrowing experiences in World War I. After a year of non-combat duty in France, Hicks finally faces the brutal reality of trench warfare and the Battle of Belleau Wood. As his comrades fall one by one to gunfire and gas, Hicks descends into delirium and emotional numbness, pushed beyond human endurance.