Summary

Cooler and rainy in Iraq in the autumn, the platoon is on lighter duty following its victory in the orchard. When a major comes to the camp, the lieutenant is asleep and the rest of the men ignore the calls to attention. The men go about their routine, cleaning weapons, washing themselves and opening packages while the major reads out which soldiers are receiving medals for their part in the battle. Sterling receives a Bronze Star for valor. It’s the only medal that inspires a response from the men, who congratulate Sterling.

Bartle notices that Murph isn’t there. Bartle muses that he’d been thinking for a few weeks that Murph is avoiding him, but he isn’t sure why he thinks that, exactly. He can’t remember when the change started. He thinks about the promise he made Murph’s mother...