Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Nathan Twining came from a rich military background; his forebears had served in the United States Army and Navy since the French and Indian War. His mother was Frances Staver Twining, author of Bird-Watching in the West. In 1913, Twining moved with his family to Oswego, Oregon, serving in the Oregon National Guard from 1915 to 1917. In 1917, he received an appointment to West Point. Because the program was shortened so as to produce more officers for combat, he spent only two years at the academy and graduated just a few days too late for service in World War I.