Reality of War

Richie and the other Army troops that are new to Vietnam have a distorted view of what to expect. They all tell each other that the fighting is over anyway and that none of them is going to be harmed. Jenkins talks about his tour in Vietnam as being simply a stepping stone to Officers Candidate School when he returns to the U.S., as if it is the same as taking a college class for credit toward a degree. Judy Duncan says that she figures anything she encounters after being a nurse in Vietnam will look good. Both Jenkins and Judy die within a month of landing in Vietnam, neither able to seek the follow up they believed would come after their service. The optimism shared by Jenkins, Judy and the other new troops is typical of the misinformed American public in 1968, as well as...