Chapters 10 and 11 Summary and Analysis

Land's sniper platoon is deployed to assist in a larger operation called Operation Rio Blanco. A few snipers remain on Hill 55, but most—including Land, Hathcock, and Burke—relocate to Hill 263 near Song Tro Khuc. The operation is considered successful. Early in the operation, a fifty-year old farmer causes considerable consternation by repeatedly shooting at the American positions. The man, who is not named, is an elderly Vietnamese farmer who has been threatened and intimidated by the Viet Cong into shooting at the Americans. He uses a decrepit, rusty, K-44 rifle and shoots twenty rounds toward the American position every other day. He does not aim, and merely sends the bullets in a general direction. However, even so, the sporadic gunfire into the American compound is objectionable. Interestingly, the unnamed man's biography is presented in more detail...