Chapters 1 and 2 Summary

Jamie Dexter is the daughter of an Army Colonel. Her older brother, TJ, has just shipped off to fight in Vietnam. Jamie is almost 13 and is working in the rec center, handing out equipment to soldiers on the base. When the novel first opens, Jamie and Private Hollister are playing gin rummy. Jamie tells the private that TJ just left for the war and how proud her mom will be of TJ when they win the war. The private seems skeptical but Jamie thinks that she knows everything.

Jamie says her father is stationed at Fort Hood in Texas. She says the Colonel loves his family, the army and football. The Colonel is always saying what a great arm Jamie has when she throws a football. Growing up, TJ, Jamie and their friends were always playing war. Shortly after TJ's 18th...