Unaware
At the end of his “first week in country” Herr met “an information officer in the headquarters of the 25th division at Cu Chi.” The man showed Herr “on his map and then from his chopper what they’d done to the Boo Hoo Woods, the vanished Boo Hoo Woods, taken off by giant Rome plows and chemicals and long, slow fire, wasting hundreds of acres of cultivated plantation and wild forest alike.” He described as “denying the enemy valuable resources and cover.” The terrible irony of the situation was that the information officer couldn’t even realize what a terrible thing had been done.
Running away from oneself
Everyone was “busy” at the camp. The Marines were running around “cracking crates, squirreling away grenades, checking mortar pieces, piling rounds, clicking banana clips into automatic weapon.” They were “wired into their listening posts out around the camp, into each other, into themselves.” However, when it got “dark” it got “worse,” for there was nothing for them to do but wait and be prepared. The irony was that they were constantly in motion because they were running away from themselves. They were trying to get rid of their own thoughts.
So much needed support
Mr. Herr met many different guys during his time in Vietnam. He saw the guys who “struck the ace of spades in their helmet bands,” he saw the guys who “picked relics off of an enemy they’d killed, a little transfer of power.” The Marines carried around “five-pound Bibles from home, crosses, St. Christophers, mezuzahs, locks of hair, girlfriends’ underwear,” and whatnot. The irony was that many of them pretended to be tough and cold-hearted, but the reality proved that even they needed something dear, something special that would remind them of the old life.
