A Tour of Duty

The novel opens in late May, the day after Sgt. Gary Maxwell lands on Fire Support Base Stinson southwest of Chu Lai. He has been assigned to first platoon, Delta Company, 1/52 Battalion, 198th Infantry Brigade, Americal Division of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV).Maxwell begins writing about what life in the field, in the "bush", is like. He doesn't consciously set out to write a journal but that's what it turns into as day after day he finds himself with more time on his hands than he can use in any other way. He also writes letters and reads quite a bit. The story is a mesh of funny incidents, sudden tragedies and details which interest Maxwell, details such as how the Vietnamese people live, what the country looks and feels like and how his fellow soldiers think and react in various situations. As month after month passes, Maxwell evolves from FNG (Fucking New Guy) to field wise veteran. In early October he's surprised to hear of the plane crash in Colorado which killed the entire Wichita State football team. He relearns what he always knew, that death, unfair death happens in the "world" (the United States) too. In November, Maxwell's platoon is treated to some homemade whiskey by a papasan in whose hooch they are staying. They have a great time in this village and even take up a collection of extra c-rations to give to a girl who lives in the village who's to marry a local VC as soon as Maxwell's platoon clears out the area. Most of the guys in Maxwell's platoon hold no hard feelings towards the Viet Cong or the Vietnamese villagers.Finally, in late December, Maxwell receives orders to report to Chu Lai for a job in the headquarters of his battalion. The war is over for him and he leaves the "bush" behind him the same way all the soldiers who have gone before him have, alone.