In his preface, Caputo writes "This book ought not to be regarded as a protest... it might, perhaps, prevent the next generation from being crucified in the next war. But I don't think so." But the effect of reading the book is a deep reconsideration of one's feelings about soldiers and about war. For a liberal, it makes you feel a sympathy for soldiers you might have never experienced before. For a conservative, it might make you question the high price of war, and reconsider if war is justified for anything short of existential threats to the country. And for all Americans, it will make you feel a deep sense of shame and responsibility for what we put these soldiers through, and the terrible damage we inflicted on Vietnam. The record of the