The Legacy of Vietnam

The villainous Owen Musser appears to have fought in the Vietnam War because when he first meets Charlie he taunts him by saying, "why—last time I saw a foreigner, he was wrigglin' on the end o' my bayonet." Then, asking where Charlie's mother is, Owen says, "where's she at now? Down under ground, someplace? Some foreign graveyard the hell off someplace, pushin' up—palm trees, 'er sump'm?" The slow-witted Owen probably jumps to this conclusion because "charlie" was a euphemism for the enemy Viet Cong soldiers in the conflict.

It can be assumed that Vietnam was on Shue's mind throughout his brief playwrighting career. He served in the army at the height of the Vietnam conflict, though he never fought overseas. In Grandma Duck Is Dead, his first play for Milwaukee Rep, a group of college students in June of 1968 are concerned with...