Fredrick Douglas

Caputo joined the Marines in 1960 as a volunteer. Caputo wanted to live heroically. He had a desire for danger. He wanted to live in violence and challenge. He was sick of his childhood. It had become dull and he felt that there was nothing left for him in the safe and secure town he grew up in. Caputo also wanted to prove himself. He wanted to prove his manhood, a common characteristic of young men. He felt as if his parents thought he relied on them. He was sick of the fact that his parents thought him to be irresponsible.

Caputo was raised in Westchester, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago that was created as result of World War II. He spent his freshman year at Purdue where he couldn’t afford to continue, as he was unable to find a job as a result of the bad economy. Caputo then transferred to a commuter college in Loyola. Here he found the opportunity he had bee

When Caputo returned home he felt like many soldiers had died in vain. The war was lost or almost lost. Caputo started becoming active in protest against war. He joined the Vietnam Veterans against the war. In 1970 he mailed his campaign ribbons to president Nixon with a long and bitter letter explaining why he was opposed to American policies in Indochina. He flew for a while in a military helicopter which reminded him of the war. His experience while he was there was ok but there was still danger around Vietnam. He frequently had flashbacks of the war. In his postscript, Caputo wanted people to realize how terrible war was. He just wanted people to get a clear picture of the front lines in Vietnam. After Caputo wrote A Rumor of War he used writing the book to help him cope with the war. When he gave lectures he was surprised to find that he got good feedback from people.

This book made war sound like scandalous art. The rules of engagement should have been called dirty rules of war. Some of the rules were that it was okay to shoot an unarmed Vietnamese while running, but they couldn’t shoot one while standing or walking. It was also okay to shoot the enemy at long range but it was against the rules of engagement to shoot at close range. An infantrymen could not destroy a village with grenades, but a fighter pilot could drop napalm on it. Caputo decided to volunteer for duty with a combat battalion ager working only a short time with the staff many because of boredom. All he could do was count casualties and he felt useless and a guilty about living in a relatively safe area, while other soldiers risked their lives. Since he went to the front lines by choice he was fascinated by the experience even though he was sick of death and destruction. One time we Caputo is on duty he finds a village that has a detonating cord coming out of it, h!

Caputo finally got what he was waiting for. They were going to Vietnam. There was nothing but excitement as they were finally making there way to where the action was. Caputo as well as the rest of the mari

Some topics in this essay:
Marine Corps, Philip Caputo, Class Marine’s, Vietnam Veterans, Vietnam War, War II, Rumor War, Basic School, University Caputo, Westchester Illinois, war caputo, vietnam war, front lines, world war, caputo’s expectations, caputo war, rules engagement, caputo decided, okay shoot, rumor war,