The Sergeat and the Ghost/Escape and Evade

The battle at Albany was portrayed as a tumult of confusion, with men getting hit left and right. Probably the most disturbing instances mentioned were of men getting shoveled up into their ponchos after they'd been blown to pieces or of the sounds of American wounded being executed by the VC. Almost makes me want to become a pacifist.

Several times in the book, there are instances where the quoted words of individuals surprised me in registering these beyond-terrible acts to fellow human beings, but then continuing to function: "The enemy were killing our wounded. When the relief patrol came in it was from my south, I think." Many moments such as this shock me with the detachment through they regard these acts, yet they keep going. I'm starting to get the picture that there is nothing else to do but to keep going. Your duty is always the same. To disregard a portion of your humanity is the Faustian pact for military competence.

Luck was also a notable presence on the battlefield. Braveboy's story of survival after several days, or Sergeant's Kluge's men not getting shot up while they were carrying wounded with their rifles on their backs were undeniably lucky. No matter how good or bad a soldier you are, blind luck will have a good say in what happens. So, in that case, there is no need to worry about what you can't control. The last thing I want, however, is for something bad to happen that I could have controlled but wasn't competent enough to do it.

Hell in a Very Small Place...Death in the Tall Grass

Confusion is always the bane of all fighting forces. Disorganization and panic fragments and disperses a unit's fighting effectiveness substantially, and men are much more likely to die needlessly as a result.

Every plan looks nice and simple on paper, but out on the actual battlefield things are bound to become much more convoluted and complicated. Factors such as terrain and temperature have massive impacts that are easy to forget about if doing planning in an air-conditioned room talking about formations. This became apparent on the FTXs, where even though the mission was cut-and-dry and centered in a small area, confusion nevertheless took place. People became lost as a result of blind travel, and sometimes the objective itself would be completely bypassed. These situations slowed down operations significantly and slowed momentum down. And this was only on a mock training mission...

The sister battalion's experience at Albany also showed that American forces are by no means indestructible or untouchable. It is vital to understand that there is no built-in superiority that makes us invulnerable and victorious, and that the enemy is very capable of destroying you if you let him.