Going After Cacciato

Paul Berlin thinks about his recent past as a soldier. He was first assigned to Chu Lai’s Combat Center on June 3, 1968. There, a barber shaved his head, and a “bored master sergeant” delivered an uninspiring speech. Berlin was then confined to a small area and warned never to leave it for fear of endangering his life.

One morning during Berlin’s time at the Combat Center, he was marched to the bleachers, along with the other soldiers in training. A blank-faced corporal walked out and proceeded to stand there, silently, for the next hour. After the hour ended, the corporal explained that he’d just given the soldiers their first lesson on “how to survive this shit.”

The soldiers in training at Chu Lai participated in mock-drills, in which they were ordered to search and destroy villages. Berlin took these drills very seriously, since he thought he could die if he wasn’t well trained. He also spent long hours practicing “grenade training,” survival methods, etc. Berlin thinks of himself as a sensible, normal person. As a result, he hates being called a fool, an imbecile, a creep, and the other names his drill sergeants shout at him. He writes a letter to his father in which he asks his father to look up where Chu Lai is—because he’s “a little lost.”

After a week of training, the soldiers are assigned to their units. Paul Berlin is assigned to the 5th Battalion, 46th Infantry, 198 Infantry Brigade. For every one soldier, he learns, there are 12 “support” people—doctors, computer scientists, dentists, mapmakers, etc.

Berlin remembers being a child and spending time camping with his father. His father, affectionately nicknamed Big Fox or Big Bear, was a strong, capable man, but Berlin had trouble with their various camping activities—rowing, sack racing, etc. Once, Berlin became too sick to continue camping, and his father drove him home and gave him hamburgers and root beer. He and his father were “pals forever,” Berlin thinks.

Berlin is driven to his new Infantry Brigade. There, an officer mockingly suggests that Berlin spend the war painting fences, then snaps that Berlin will be given much, much more challenging responsibilities. On June 11, 1968, he meets the soldiers of his platoon, which are led by the buck sergeant, Oscar Johnson. Doc Peret is the medic. The platoon leader is Lieutenant Sidney Martin. While he is Lieutenant, Martin alienates his soldiers by ordering them to search tunnels thoroughly before blowing them up. Martin’s commitment to this piece of military protocol led to the deaths of several men. Although Martin is a talented soldier, he dies quickly, to be replaced by Lieutenant Corson. Everyone can sense that Corson is terrified of battle.

The chapter ends with Paul Berlin preparing for his first real day of the war—the day he’s sent out into the wilderness with his fellow troops. He boards a helicopter and travels into the “pocked mangled country.”