Yank is a musical about a young man’s journey. He is drafted in 1943 and put into basic training where he realizes how different he is from the other men and confirms his attraction to men and not women. He then has a dalliance with one of the soldiers. After the soldier pulls away the young man takes a job writing for a military magazine called Yank where he is whisked all over the world. Not only is he writing important stories but he is also living as a gay man of course under cover never forgetting his first love. After receiving word that his soldier is suffering from depression due to war anxiety the young man visits him. Here they revisit there romance. The romance of course is short-lived as they are found out. From here we find out how brutal the military was in their treatment of soldiers not only for punishment of being gay but also in the way they were forcing these people to out other officers. It all comes to a very dramatic ending but not without hope for the future. Because this is a world war two love story it is surrounded by music that counters this dramatic story. Writers David and Joseph Zellnik are incredibly smart in mixing comedy and uplifting music to cushion the reality of the story. At times it is a tribute to the 40’s war movie musical.