One Weekend a Month... My Ass! is a wonderful way to see into the mind of an ordinary soldier serving in the U.S. Army National Guard. This multitude of vignettes and descriptive life events are told in his own words, peppered with jokes, photographs, other soldiers' comments, and stream-of-consciousness observations. Robert Pepin both witnessed and took part in these incidents throughout his twenty-year career; all events are true or believed to be so. During both deployments to Iraq (over two and a half years), he compiled nearly 1,000 pages of handwritten entries in journals that he carried with him everywhere he went. He brought the journals home and kept them safely tucked away until he was moved to transcribe them. The non-deployment accounts are taken completely from his memory.As a young man, Robert Pepin always wondered what type of experiences and missions his grandfather Paul Pepin had endured while serving in WWII with the Army Air Corps, but never really knew any details except that he worked with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). This lack of information propelled Robert to write this book so that his sons and future generations of the Pepin family would know more about his own life. Without any formal writing classes or professional help, he started typing up his stories, from the journals and from memory, to convey his experiences the best way he could.Throughout the narrative, Pepin can be interpreted as sarcastic, cynical, silly, brave, stupid, honest, bitchy, and even sad, but he has always been proud to have served. You will read that he did not receive the medal of honor, purple heart, or anything equally prestigious, nor did he retire at a high rank such as general. This book generates no hype and never embellishes events. Simply put, Pepin is just an ordinary soldier who does ordinary things. His personality is easily understood through the narrative; you feel as if he is speaking directly to you.Enjoy this book! And thank you.