pages 84-112

Sorry that my first post is well into the book. Craig and his platoon get into a full scale firefight with a group of vietcong in a bamboo grove. Craig is stabbed in the leg with a punji spike(a sharpened piece of bamboo smeared with human feces). This injury gets him reassigned to escort a small band of ARVN troops to their barracks. When he gets there he falls under the command of an ARVN general who has a peculiar sense of humor. He describes the ARVN troops as being ragtag and weak. They constantly flee during ambushes and are scared of firing their weapons. During one ambush in particular when they are ambushing a group of vietcong along a game trail. Craig's platoon was supposed to open fire then signal for the other platoon under command of the general to fire from the other side. But when Craig opens fire he finds that his whole platoon is gone, he is forced to defend himself from the patrol all by himself. When the ambush is over they find the deserters back at the barracks sleeping. The general goes into a frenzy and beats the soldiers until they are a bloody mess. The general does not mess around when it comes to deserters. Craig gets a message from his commander that he and the ARVN are to scout an area. This sound alright, until the general reveals that the area to be scouted is the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Roberts and the ARVNs arrive in the Valley of the Shadow of death only to be ambushed by a whole company of VC. They are forced to fight for their very lives as the VC unleash a relentless assault. Roberts and the ARVNs are forced to the top of a hill where they hold their position until help comes. They are airlifted and arrive back at base with heavy casualties.