Book Notes from Chapter 14

American Thought:

• Soldiers dies as valient hereos, not by accident or negligence

  For example: It would not be honorable to go to war and choke on a potatoe chip in the mess hall. No one would want to be remembered for that. It sounds ludicrous, almost.

  In our society, we want to go down as fighters, as a man/woman who sacrificed thier life for others in the heat of combat, not by someone's careless accident (Gearhart's Flare).

• This explains why Richie rewrote the letter the way he did. His family will have a hard enough time knowing that Turner is dead; they don't need to know that he died that way too.

Tension:

U.S. is trying to "pacify" the SV with meds and food (which they desperately need), while the VC are torturing and killing the SV for accepting aid. The SV have NO protection or comfort. How do the soldiers ever feel like the accomplish anything?