Chapter 4 Illumination Rounds Summary and Analysis

The author gives twenty unconnected scenes that have only one thing in common—they all happen in Vietnam during wartime.

Herr relates his first encounter with Marines while on a Chinook helicopter. He hears what he thinks is an enormous hammer striking the underside of the helicopter but turns out to be bullets coming from the ground. One of the young Marines takes a bullet and dies before Herr's eyes.

The 173rd Airborne returns from the battle for Hill 975. Young women working for the Red Cross offer coffee, but most of the soldiers are too battle-weary and walk on by without a word or glance. One soldier says something to one of the young women that makes her cry.

A senior NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer) in the Special Forces tells a story about how a friend of...