Summary

Chapter 16: Richie is airlifted to a hospital. On the chopper, he sees that Brew is on a gurney next to his. Richie reaches for Brew’s hand and squeezes it. Brew dies and even though a medic tries to block Richie’s vision, he can hear the body bag being zipped up. Richie passes out on the chopper. When he comes back to consciousness, he is at a military hospital. He finds out he had been hit by several pieces of shrapnel, had a bullet graze his wrist and had a concussion. The good news, he is told, is that he was not hurt badly. The bad news is he will have to return to combat. Richie makes friends with another soldier being treated at the hospital named Joe Derby. Joe has serious injuries and asks Richie to read T.S. Eliot and John Steinbeck...