Chapter Six Summary

Eugene believes that had he slipped past Wakefield that fateful day, his entire life would have turned out for the better. But he stayed and listened to Wakefield's pitch to join the military, instead. This had lead directly to Eugene's being a commanding officer during Vietnam. Eugene explains that this meant he watched a lot of horrors inflicted upon men, women and children who were not combatants in the conflict, but murdered alongside it as innocent non-participants. While it sounds cold-blooded, Eugene details how many soldiers killed civilians without second thought when their frustrations boiled over, himself included. Eugene admits he is very bitter that his country forced him to lie about such murders while he was under the oath of service. He tells the reader he feels this makes him complicit, even though he never wanted to be in such...