Philip Caputo starts his story from his indecision of what to do with his life after high school. Once he decided to join the marine corps he tells of his college career, marine corps training, service in the war, and finally to when his tour of duty came to a close after the dismissal of his murder trial, and he finally got to go home. Caputo told his story from a point of view that no media source could have covered during that time. Caputo was actually there, in the battlefield, waiting for their attacks and drills against the Viet Cong. He told his story of whores and alcohol to blood and death. A very detailed account of what he actually saw and did during his time of service.

I enjoyed this book. I found Caputo's words to paint

In the beginning of the book I could not quite understand his thirst for war and fighting. Then I realized it must be a feeling every man has some time in his life, and me being a woman had to think hard about the drive behind this. I thought that one of the turning points in the book was when he got assigned as the assistant adjutant. He longed to be in the battlefield, and I was glad that after some time they reassigned him to combat. I do not know how the armed forces work, but I guess they must give some consideration to what an upper level soldier wants to do.

Of course later in the book, the murder was thought provoking. I did not think the actual murder was as significant as the way the soldiers were reacting to it. By the end of their service time, I guess all soldiers get used to the killing and blood shed, but I found it hard to read when they were making fun and joking about people they had killed. This is another human being. I know that in other parts of the book they killed but I guess this one just seemed more intense because at the end they were wrong about whom they

Some common words found in the essay are:
Viet Cong, Philip Caputo, Vietnam War, philip caputo, vietnam war, war philip caputo, war philip, marine corps, told story, innocent people,
Approximate Word count = 736
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)