Summary

The story “Why We’re in Vietnam,” is set in 1999, almost thirty years since Sully-John, Willie, and several others were airlifted out of Dong Ha Province. Sully-John had been badly injured and begged someone in the helicopter to kill him. When he realized no one would, he asked them to at least get rid of the mamasan who kept staring at him. It did not take him long to realize he was the only one who could see the old woman.

The narrator indicated that the Mamasan had been Malenfant’s “date” (594). Soldiers Malenfant, Sully-John, Slocum, and their lieutenant Dieffenbaker had run into a clearing to rescue other soldiers from a helicopter that had been shot down even though Viet Cong were shooting at them. They had been hero-bound, but Malenfant turned into a murderer and Sully-John saved the life...