Chapters 5 and 6 Summary and Analysis

Chapter 5 p. 59—Under the influence of Chief Petty Officer Barrett, Richard decides to become an officer and make his career in the Navy. Barrett gets Richard to fix a radio though Richard has little experience in this. Barrett ruins the men's party time at Vieques Island by making the men constantly clean up their area. Richard and his frogman friend become known as Mr. Geek and Mr. Mud, as they go to the ship mess and Richard eats peas through his nose, scaring Navy sailors away. Richard pulls a final prank in the sky-diving exercises, waiting until the last minute to pull his parachute cord. This is considered to be showing off and excessively dangerous. Finally, Richard leaves for officers' candidate school.

Chapter 6, p. 68—Richard graduates as an Ensign in December 1965. At this point, Richard looks forward...