View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why is it difficult to round up the platoon?
(a) It is Sunday and they are all over the island.
(b) They had gone on a night training hike.
(c) They hear the news and do not want to be found.
(d) Many of them had gone AWOL.

2. What are some of the things Caputo learns in Marine training?
(a) Use of new technology, making homemade weapons, and disarming women combatants.
(b) Military protocol, military dress, military jargon, and Marine Corps traditions.
(c) Survival skills, Marine history, rules and regulations, weaponry, and how to kill.
(d) Physical exercize, recommended reading, and filing of paperwork.

3. How does the adjutant's quarters look as Caputo returns to Vietnam?
(a) A prefab building with airconditioning
(b) A revamped box car
(c) A dugout with sandbag walls and a bamboo roof
(d) A water-soaked tent with makeshift furniture

4. How many men are on a helicopter team?
(a) Eight
(b) Ten
(c) Four
(d) Six

5. In this first offensive, how do Caputo and his men see themselves?
(a) As knights in shining armor
(b) As boy scouts on a hike
(c) As frightened school kids
(d) As unprepared for combat

6. At what age does Philip Caputo enlist in the Marine Corps?
(a) 20
(b) 18
(c) 19
(d) 21

7. What is the feeling of the brigade as the offensive begins?
(a) That it was just another drill.
(b) That they would all be killed.
(c) That they were outnumbered by the enemy.
(d) That they could win the war alone.

8. How does Caputo's attempt to get closer to his men on leave in Danang work out?
(a) They end up in a brawl until the MPs arrive.
(b) They become closer and Caputo listens to their advice.
(c) The enlisted men do not trust Caputo, the officer.
(d) The conversation is muddled and Caputo gives up.

9. What does Caputo say is the second stage of soldiers in battle?
(a) Problems remembering specific things
(b) Drowsiness
(c) Disorientation
(d) Hatred for everything and everyone around you

10. What does Caputo do at Camp Upshur, Virginia?
(a) He waits for his orders to go to basic training.
(b) He attends college classes.
(c) He gets his physical fitness examination.
(d) He goes through basic training.

11. What event does Caputo recall that further dims the idea of glamor in war?
(a) An outbreak of malaria
(b) The crash of a Marine helicopter
(c) Watching one of his men shot and killed by a sniper
(d) A visit to the field hospital

12. What lesson does Caputo learn that contradicts what he learned at Quantico?
(a) Not to stand up and give arm signals
(b) Not to shout orders to his men
(c) Not to light up a cigarette
(d) Not to lead a forced march

13. What does Caputo say he learns later about the war in Vietnam?
(a) That there is never enough time to relax.
(b) That there would be days when there is no fighting.
(c) That the Viet Cong ha plants in his platoon.
(d) That nine-tenths of the time is waiting for the other one-tenth to happen.

14. Where is Caputo's first command?
(a) Seoul, Korea
(b) Danang, Vietnam
(c) The Philippines
(d) Okinawa, Japan

15. What is everyone told about the war in the first briefing Caputo attends?
(a) That the Americans would never launch a full scale offensive.
(b) That the war had already effectively divided the country in half.
(c) That it is defensive only to free the ARVN to fight their war.
(d) That Americans would not be supplied with live ammunition.

Short Answer Questions

1. What looks beautiful from the hill but becomes ominous up close?

2. What does Caputo speculate about in regard to mines remaining in an area where the RPs are supposed to have cleared them?

3. What does he imagine being in the military will be like?

4. What does Lieutenant Tester want to know about Caputo's trip to Japan?

5. How does Caputo describe the Viet Cong division he first becomes aware of by looking at a site map, a map showing positions of allies and enemy in the field.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 766 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample