Summary

In Chapter 17 Rye and Frankie arrive back in Vietnam. Frankie receives a letter from Barb telling her that Barb’s brother had been killed by Oakland police in a shootout between them and the Black Panthers. Barb’s brother had surrendered before he was shot. Frankie writes to her parents telling them how bad morale is and about how the men’s minds have been broken even when their bodies are not because of the constant vigilance required. Heroin is also a problem.

Three soldiers come into the operating room. Two are carrying another. They were prisoners of war who had been kept in cages for three months. One of the men is wearing a necklace of amputated fingers and ears. The man they carried is about to die, and his friends pressure the medical professionals to help him because they...