Book II, Wolkowicz, Chapters 1-2 Summary

Waddy and Barney parachute into the Shweli River region of Burma to command 20 Kachin guerrilla fighters. Affecting a British accent, Waddy treats Barney like his houseboy. Once on patrol Force Jessup is ambushed. Barney is left behind to cover the squad's retreat and when he finds his way back to camp, starving and dehydrated, he finds Waddy nonchalant about his survival. Barney notices this attitude - and Waddy's absence during fighting - when they demolish a Japanese tank and capture work elephants, which Waddy plans to help them crash through the dense rain forest more speedily.

Despite dysentery, Barney blows up the tank, attracting surrounding Japanese troops, who encircle the squad. When the one surviving elephant is not hit by intense gunfire, Barney though irreligious decides that it is touched by a higher power and...