In the Lake of the Woods

This chapter describes John’s experiences during the Vietnam War in detail: the daily routine of battle; enemies who hid and could never be found or fought openly; the frustration of sudden, unexpected deaths by landmine and sniper.

Kathy writes to John and tells him that she is seeing a couple of other guys and that when he gets home he will need to understand that she wants to have a life of her own. The next day, the men of Charlie Company are dropped by helicopter into a village called Thuan Yen.

John describes four hours of murder and horror as Charlie Company systematically kills every living thing in the village, including animals, old men, women, young girls, little boys, and babies in their mother’s arms. No one was spared. John wanders around in a daze and loses time, observing the carnage around him. In the confusion and insanity of the day, John shoots an old man whom he thought was carrying a rifle that turned out to be a hoe. As things become more and more unreal, John eventually finds himself covered in slime and blood at the bottom of a ditch containing 100 bodies. PFC Weatherby approaches him at the edge of the ditch, and John accidentally shoots him.