A twenty-five year old with a seven-year career in the Marines. He carries Corporal José Gonzalez to safety after he gets his left foot blown apart due to stepping on a mine. Sampson crawls on his belly and uses his bayonet to feel for additional mines. After clearing a path, he flings Gonzalez on his shoulders and carries him out of the field. For his bravery, Sampson is recommended for a Bronze Star, which he eventually receives. He is then reduced to PFC for the second time after going AWOL in Da Nang. Caputo describes Sampson as a “sloppy, careless man” but a good field soldier. He is someone who needs “the stimulus of hardship or danger to display his better characteristics.”
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Lance Corporal Sampson Character Timeline in A Rumor of War
The timeline below shows where the character Lance Corporal Sampson appears in A Rumor of War. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter Four
...than kill, and it turns his foot “into a mass of bruised and bloody meat.” Lance Corporal Sampson clears a path to Gonzalez and carries him out of the field, over his shoulders,...
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