West Point staffer Marty Maher (b. 1876), who came there from Tipperary as a waiter, enlisted in 1898, instructed several generations of plebes in boxing, swimming and tradition, stayed at West Point all his life, his romance and marriage to Mary O'Donnell, and his declining years after her death (1948). He was buried there in 1961.The life story of a salt-of-the-earth Irish immigrant, who becomes an Army Noncommissioned Officer and spends his 50 year career at the United States Military Academy at West Point. This includes his job-related experiences as well as his family life and the relationships he develops with young cadets with whom he befriends. Based on the life of a real person.