Summary: Chapter 1
It is 1967 and
seventeen-year-old Richie Perry, a black high school graduate from
Harlem, joins the army. He has few other choices: though he is very
intelligent, his single mother, abandoned by her husband years ago,
cannot afford to send him to college. Rather than remain in the
slums of Harlem, Richie enlists in the army amid rumors of impending
peace—he thinks that the Vietnam War will end before he even has
to fire a gun. While in basic training, he injures his knee playing
basketball, earning him a medical profile that should keep him out
of combat. However, due to a paperwork mishap, Richie’s file is
not properly processed, and he is sent to Vietnam anyway. His captain
assures him that the file will soon be processed and that he will
be sent home without ever seeing actual combat.
On the trip over, Richie befriends Judy Duncan, an army
nurse, and Harold Gates, a cocky young black soldier from Chicago
whom his friends call Peewee. The plane stops overnight in Osaka,
Japan, and due to another bureaucratic mishap, the soldiers are
forced to pay for their own dinners and sleep on benches in the
airport. Richie feels unease at these signs of what he sees as the
army’s general incompetence. He buys a souvenir for his younger
brother, Kenny. When he finally arrives in Vietnam, Richie is separated
from Judy Duncan, but is assigned to the same barracks as Peewee.
Though the sound of artillery in the distance makes him anxious,
Richie is somewhat comforted by the fact that the camp in Vietnam
looks exactly like his basic-training facility back in Massachusetts.
Summary: Chapter 2
All the other guys in the neighborhood
thought I was going to college. I wasn’t, and the army was the place
I was going to get away from all the questions.
(See Important Quotations Explained)
Lying in bed, Richie reflects that he joined the army
in part to earn money to send home to Kenny, and in part to avoid
tough questions about his impossible dreams for the future. Over
breakfast the next morning, Peewee tells Richie that he likes the
army because for the first time in his life he has exactly what
everyone else has—the same clothing, shoes, food, and so on. A large
African-American soldier named Rings approaches Richie and Peewee
and asks them to cut their skin so that they can all become blood
brothers. He explains that they need to stick together as fellow
blacks. When Richie and Peewee refuse to do as Rings asks, he calls
them Uncle Toms.
Later in the day, Peewee and Richie speak with an experienced soldier
who further confirms the rumor of a coming truce. Richie writes
a letter to Kenny, telling him that the war is going to end very soon.
After killing time at the base for ten days, Richie, Peewee, and a
terrified young man named Jenkins are finally assigned to a camp near
Chu Lai. On the truck headed for their new squad, Peewee says he
is not afraid, but Richie can tell that Peewee is just as frightened as
he is. Jenkins begins crying, which calms Richie, who feels braver by
comparison.
Summary: Chapter 3
Once they arrive at the base near Chu Lai, the boys meet
Johnson, an extraordinarily strong black soldier from Savannah,
Georgia. Johnson takes offense when Peewee mocks Georgia, and there
is tension in their relationship from the start. Jenkins reveals
that he is in the army only because his father, a colonel, wants
him to begin a military career. He confesses to Richie that he is
convinced he is going to die, but Richie assures him that most soldiers
never fire their guns.
The four soldiers finally arrive at their new base. The
commanding officer tells Richie that his medical file has not yet
arrived. Richie tries to write a letter home but cannot find the
right words. That night, Richie, Peewee, and Jenkins go on night
patrol with their squad. Simpson, the squad sergeant, warns the
new soldiers not to get him killed because of their inexperience,
as he is just four months away from completing his tour of duty.
The patrol is more terrifying than Richie had ever expected, but
goes smoothly until the very end. Just as they are reentering their
camp, Jenkins steps on a land mine, and is killed instantly.
