Billy Palmer

In an old cemetery on a blustery cold autumn day, Manny Anderson and his wife Cassey are attending the funeral of Billy Palmer. They haven’t seen Palmer in years and know nothing about his death or where he has been. Manny is especially troubled. Before Billy went to Vietnam they all had been such close friends, but when he came back things were different. Billy quickly became an outcast and Manny wonders why? Cassey, who was Billy’s girlfriend before he went away, but eventually ended up marrying Manny, says to forget it, any problems Billy may have had were of his own making. Manny confesses that he lied about what really happened the time Billy was thrown in jail. Cassey had never heard this before, but still says so what? Manny says he needs to know and besides, his business runs itself and he has the time.

Manny has located an ex-Marine that served with Billy, Mark Tainer, who is now a publisher in New York City and Manny meets with him. Mark is sad that Billy is gone, but confesses that he and Billy had had a reunion after Vietnam, but his wife at the time made the reunion difficult. They talk about Billy, the Billy before Vietnam, the Billy in Vietnam, and the Billy after. Mark can only tell about Billy the soldier, the Billy that adapted to the situation. Manny confirmed that Billy was always there when you needed him, even before he was a soldier. Mark tells Manny about the war and why it was such as mess. He tells Manny the reason we lost was that our allies, the South Vietnamese, were heavily infiltrated with Viet Cong and North Vietnamese agents. Mark tells how the sniper teams, one of which was Mark and Billy, operated with such efficiency, how the enemy wasn’t really that comfortable in the jungle. They lived their lives in the villages and rice paddies and seldom ventured into the bush, not like the Americans who they were fighting. Growing up, most of the sniper teams had been hunters and they loved going into the bush. Also, the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese planned everything before they acted. When the sniper teams surprised them they seldom tried to find the teams, they just ran.