Philip Caputo was a strong and intelligent young man who fought diligently for his country. When he joined the marines he was an inexperienced boy and when he left the country of Vietnam he was an old man who had seen far too much. His mind betrayed him and his moral compass had left him. A man can only dwell among death for so long; eventually, death will no longer be any more significant than anything else found in their daily routine. Philip Caputo was a victim of war, his life was spared but his mind was not; toward the end of his service in Vietnam, he was no longer capable of leading and directing other men. Caputo had experienced the ideal American childhood. He grew up in a quiet suburb in Illinois. As he became a young adult he “could not stand the place, the dullness of it”. He wanted to escape the sameness and war seemed like his opportunity to do so. His life was so peaceful that he sought chaos. He lived in comfort so he sought danger. Caputo had no idea what war meant. When he ran into recruiters at a university scouting event, he knew he wanted to enlist, he wanted to “be a leader of men”. He compared the experience of war to what he saw on the television and to …show more content…
“We were shouted at, kicked, humiliated and harassed constantly”. The future officers were taught to never leave a man on the field and to never surrender. Nonetheless, OCS and basic school did not prepare the men for war. When the news came that the Caputo and his men would be sent to Vietnam excitement broke loose. Caputo refers to some of his fellow marines as “happy warriors”. The men were excited because there were going to an unknown place, they were leaving their training behind and entering what they thought to be a “war in a far-off, exotic country”. The men went into Vietnam as naïve boys, they were excited to fight in a war. They were not prepared for what they would see and what they would have to