Chapter 1 Summary and Analysis

The story opens in the field of battle. Kovic has blood on his jacket, a bullet in his shoulder, and cannot feel his legs. He is terrified and he and his fellow soldiers are being killed or injured. His troop falls back and Kovic passes out.

When he awakes, he realizes his life has been saved; his rifle is gone, but rounds are shot everywhere. The attack has lifted somewhat, and four men are carrying Kovic on a stretcher. Men scream around him. Bravery and valor mean nothing now, with the death that surrounds him. Kovic fades in and out of consciousness and notices when he reaches the hospital, with the doctors 'shoving tubes and needles in my arms.' He is happy to have survived. A voice asks him his name; he is Sergeant Kovic, born on the Fourth of...