Chapters 18, 19, and 20 Summary and Analysis

Chapter 18 includes eight pages of photographs, including fourteen photographs. All of the photographs are topical, though several of them are not specific to Hathcock's service. Hathcock appears personally in five of the photographs.

McAbee and Hathcock continue to operate in support of the Marines. Hathcock and McAbee, the platoon's commander and second-in-command, respectively, are usually absent from the platoon's command post which infuriates their commanding officer. Thus, they are generally in minor trouble, even though successful as snipers. On one occasion Hathcock and McAbee plan a morning patrol but McAbee's spectacles are wrecked in an artillery barrage. McAbee secures Hathcock's promise to wait, and then travels to a distant station to secure new spectacles. Hathcock tires of waiting and takes Perry, another sniper, on the operation instead. The men accompany a Marine unit and catch a ride on one...