A Rumor of War

In this section, Caputo begins a desk job at his regimental HQ in May 1965, where he will stay until September 1965. Caputo’s chief duty is to maintain an up-to-date tally of the dead—both Vietnamese and American. Called the “scoreboard” by the staff commanders, Caputo updates the figures whenever there is an action that costs lives or leaves men wounded. The careerist priorities and ignorance of the command structure concerning the soldiers who are fighting and dying disgusts Caputo, and his own complicity as a staff officer causes him considerable pain.

After a two week liberty in Japan, Caputo arrives at regimental HQ in Danang. When he returns to his old company to retrieve some gear he had left behind, he learns that one man, Sergeant Sullivan, had been killed by a sniper and another, Ingram, had been paralyzed during a battle. Death has come home to C Company.

Back at regimental headquarters, the constant, deafening noise of giant mortars being fired throughout the night prevents Caputo from sleeping. Though these are defensive guns, not the enemies’, Caputo is still unnerved by the noise and lack of sleep. Though he is given what seems to be a heavy workload, as “Regimental Casualty Reporting Officer, Regimental Secret and Confidential Documents Officer, Regimental Legal Officer, and Regimental Mess Officer” (164), Caputo has plenty of time on his hands to read.