When it came to writing about his experience as a gay man going through Marine Corps boot camp, Greg Cope White cites wisdom from late legendary TV producer Norman Lear: "Write the story you want to tell."

The result was his 2015 memoir, "The Pink Marine." White entered boot camp in 1979, when being gay in the military was illegal under United States law. The book opens with White at the end of his freshman year of college, learning that his best friend, Dale, was leaving the Air Force Academy for the Marine Corps, boot camp in Parris Island, South Carolina.

"I sat up. I liked boots. I loved the idea of summer camp," White writes. "... I announced that I'd go with him."

The new Netflix series "Boots," which hit the platform Oct. 9, opens much the same way. Inspired by White's memoir,

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