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A Rumor of War
In Philip Caputo’s A Rumor of War, he shows the rollercoaster of emotions that every soldier goes through during time of war. In this courageous story, he depicts the way in which the young soldiers from America left their country (and many their towns for the first time) with aspirations of victory, glory, and adventure, only to find out that war brings the opposite to the lives involved.
When the story starts, Caputo is a twenty year old young man from a small town in Illinois. He, like many of his peers, is inspired by the opportunity to fight for their country and to protect the ideals that America represents. One of the main reasons for the common misconception that the war would be over in a few weeks or just a bit longer was the fact that the Viet Cong were underestimated. In Caputo’s training in the ROTC program at Loyola College, he was taught the basics and the rules of war. Yet, upon arriving in Vietnam, it soon became clear that the Viet Cong did not fight by the rules; in fact, they were very good at neglecting the rules of war.
After spending most of his life living in a rural town of Westchester, Illinois, Caputo, like many young men of twenty years of age, was ready to prove to those around him that he was
indeed coming into manhood. He was ready to get away from the comforts of home and to prove himself on the frontlines of a battle that should not take too long to win. After hearing President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech about conquering the spread of communism, Caputo felt a sense of duty and felt that this was his chance to stand up for his country and to prove to everyone that he was ready to take on the challenges that come along with entering into manhood.
All of these feelings of exhilaration at the chance of going to war and to prove himself as a man dedicated to his country were too much at first. In January 1965, Caputo and his Third Marine Division were deployed to Okinawa,...