Chapter 15, Centurion Summary and Analysis

During a sweep through a village, Alpha Company finds a Viet Cong rifle in a well. Captain Johansen orders a search of the village and the soldiers rip through the hamlet like maniacs. They dump sand in the well, kick over jugs of rice, tear hay out of pigpens, and rip up the floors of huts. The soldiers find no additional incriminating evidence. They take prisoners for the night, a practice that seems to afford them some protection from nighttime Viet Cong attacks. The lieutenants bind and gag three old Vietnamese men, and attach them to a tree for the night. O'Brien spends the night on radio watch. He watches the old men sleep, the trees bending with their bodies.

Bates, a buddy of O'Brien's, remarks that it isn't right, having the old men tied to a tree all...