If I Die in a Combat Zone

Major Callicles becomes the executive officer over LZ Gator and battalion headquarters. He is the “last but defiant champion of single-minded, hard-boiled militarism.” He hates mustaches, marijuana, long hair, and prostitution—all of which exist in LZ Gator. For the first few months, Major Callicles sets about trying to rid the base of everything he hates and preaching that “the army needs guts.” However, when American journalists finally get wind of the My Lai Massacre that occurred a year and a half before, Major Callicles’s new priority becomes defending the army’s honor and trying to justify the act.

First, Major Callicles insists that the My Lai Massacre was fabricated by the “liberal” press to sell newspapers. When journalists fly into Vietnam to investigate for themselves, Major Callicles gathers them in a room and screams at them, telling them that civilians always die in war and this instance was no different. A journalist points out that former soldiers reported that they lined civilians up in ditches and executed them, but Major Callicles holds his ground. The next day he flies the journalists over where My Lai 4 once was. The sight itself is unremarkable: just a burned out hamlet.

When the journalists leave, Major Callicles is tasked with securing My Lai 4 and removing the mines around the area so the military can conduct a proper investigation. Callicles does his work thoroughly and receives a commendation, but he feels as if he’s betraying his values and belief in the righteousness of the American military. He starts drinking heavily and frequently. Some evenings, Callicles argues with O’Brien about the morality of killing civilians. In Major Callicles’s eyes, every Vietnamese civilian is probably Viet Cong, so killing civilians shouldn’t be a problem. When O’Brien presses Major Callicles, Callicles grows irate and says they have to win the war at all costs.

With the investigation over, Major Callicles continues obsessing over marijuana and prostitution. O’Brien thinks Callicles is trying to resurrect the “old order,” the way the army used to be. Major Callicles spends hours in the rain, searching incoming jeeps for marijuana. When a medic named Tully shoots himself in the foot the night before returning to combat—Tully claims it was an accident, but O’Brien doubts it—Major Callicles screams in his face about cowardice and having “guts.” After leaving Tully, quite drunk, Callicles tells O’Brien that people like himself need to prove to the world that some men still have courage; all the young soldiers don’t want to fight, but courage means “going out” and “making things happen right,” though O’Brien notes that this depends upon what “right” is.

Major Callicles takes his helmet and goes to the officers’ club. O’Brien is there, talking with Bates and a man named Porter until midnight, when Callicles enters the room and tells O’Brien to get his gear: they’re going out to set an ambush. Callicles wants to “get some kills.” O’Brien tries to talk Major Callicles out of his plan, but the major insists. They pick up a Vietnamese scout, then they drive down into a village and meet a squad leader from Delta Company. The squad leader points to an area the Viet Cong frequent, next to another village, though he advises Major Callicles not to go. “But Callicles [is] spinning in booze and courage,” O’Brien reflects.

Callicles leads O’Brien and the scout into the jungle to set up their ambush. He criticizes O’Brien for the way he sets up a claymore mine but he clearly doesn’t know how to do it himself. Callicles talks so loudly that any Viet Cong nearby would easily hear them in the darkness, but it’s raining, so O’Brien figures the Viet Cong won’t be travelling tonight. Callicles lays down to hide, then passes out. They let him sleep until he suddenly rises an hour later, looks into the village, and decides it’s empty. They return back to base. A few days later, Major Callicles burns down a “whorehouse” on LZ Gator. The next day, he’s stripped of his command and banned from the base.