Who is Bubba Yates from Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War and what is their importance? "Goodbye

Bubba Yates is an enlisted man in the author's intelligence section. Yates is a Southern boy who attended Ole 'Bama with the class of 1945, majored in divinity, and was killed in action on Okinawa after making a heroic defense. During one memorable exchange, Yates and the author discuss the relative value of wearing steel helmets. They sit in a foxhole, wearing helmets, and carry on their hypothetical discussion, the author stating helmets are good protection and Yates arguing that helmets are useless and a waste of time. While they talk, an artillery burst sprays shrapnel into the area, a piece of which impacts Yates' helmet and deeply dents it. Yates takes off his helmet and examines the dent, both men conclude Yates would be dead without the helmet, and Yates puts the helmet back on, and then calmly continues to argue that helmets are useless.