Opening
In Chapters 6–10, John "Chick" Donohue turns a barroom dare into a full-throttle odyssey through Vietnam. What begins as a joke—hand-delivering beers to hometown friends—quickly escalates into a series of impossible breaks, bold bluffs, and dangerous rides that carry him from port city docks to foxholes near the DMZ.
What Happens
Chapter 6: Looking for Chuckles’s Brother
Chick starts in Qui Nhon harbor, retrieving a hidden case of beer from the Drake Victory. Expecting the trip to last only a few days, he grabs a water taxi with a group of Military Police and spots the 127th MP Company insignia. He asks about Tommy Collins—and luck hits immediately: they know him and are heading to relieve him on a nearby cargo ship. Chick rides along, shouts up to a stunned Tommy, and hands him a beer from everyone back at Doc Fiddler’s, a scheme sparked by a conversation with George "The Colonel" Lynch. He passes on Tommy’s mother’s message: write home.
Tommy, amused by Chick’s white jeans and madras shirt, brings him to base. Chick buys drinks for Tommy’s bunkmates and takes the crew into Qui Nhon to a go-go bar, where he orders rounds of beer and “Saigon teas.” The night hums with Friendship, Loyalty, and Camaraderie. Back at the barracks, their Irish songs draw a lieutenant. Chick, channeling an authoritative tone, challenges the officer’s authority; the officer backs off. Later, Chick learns the man likely assumes he’s CIA—a misperception Chick dubs the “CIA Effect.” The next morning, when Chick tries to bring Tommy along to find Duggan, a sergeant major refuses. Chick says goodbye and heads for the airstrip.
Chapter 7: The Texan Couldn’t Care Less About Orders
Chick remembers a Texan crew chief from the First Air Cavalry—Rick Duggan’s division—whom he met the previous night. The Texan had offered a ride on a mail run to the Central Highlands. After a lift from a Korean truck driver, Chick reaches the Qui Nhon airstrip just in time to meet the Texan by his Grumman Albatross. The sergeant, unfazed by Chick’s lack of orders, waves him aboard. As they fly the forty miles to An Khe, the landscape looks beautiful and treacherous at once, the jungle’s calm masking violence.
At An Khe, Chick learns he’s missed Bravo Company by hours; they moved north toward the DMZ. He hikes up the road to the supply area, where a gruff sergeant confirms only that Duggan has gone “north.” Seeing Chick’s disappointment, the sergeant softens and offers a workaround: he can’t reveal positions, but a note will reach Duggan on the 1300 mail run. Chick pushes further: can he ride the mail run himself? The deadpan answer—“Well you got here, didn’t ya?!”—makes the next step possible.
Chapter 8: The Good Samaritan in An Khe Looked Familiar
Racing the clock back to the airstrip, Chick flags down a jeep. The driver quotes a rule—“never pass an American”—and tells him to hop in. When Chick explains his mission, the driver hits the brakes and turns around: it’s Kevin McLoone, another friend on Chick’s list. Shocked laughter gives way to beers shared from Chick’s New York stash with Kevin and his two companions.
Kevin, a Marine veteran turned civilian contractor for Dynalectron, installs signal-scrambling gear on helicopters to thwart enemy tracking. He guns the jeep to the airfield. There, Chick walks into the operations hut, uses the same firm tone that cowed the lieutenant, and tells the GI to add “John Donohue… Civilian” to the manifest. The GI complies. As Chick boards, Kevin shakes his head—he’s never seen anyone “roaming around Vietnam” without official business. They part with a quick prayer to meet again back home.
Chapter 9: LZ Tombstone
On a C-130, Chick meets two young GIs from Bravo Company, heading back to the field after wounds. One—Jack—laughs at the beer-run story; the other eyes the oddly dressed civilian with suspicion. They land at Phu Bai, south of Hue. Chick shadows the pair and jumps onto their personnel carrier as it rolls out. The ride passes through lush mountains to a temporary base at an old French church and cemetery: LZ Tombstone.
They must reach LZ Jane before sunset. In the Operations tent, a corporal insists Chick see the major. The “CIA Effect” works again. The major, reading Chick’s confidence and civilian clothes as covert credentials, approves his ride and invites him to dinner. Over the meal, the major fishes for intel; Chick tells the truth, which the major interprets as a clever cover. At dusk, Chick boards a Huey with the two GIs for the final leg. When the chopper dips over hostile territory, the pilots prank him by cutting the engine for a terrifying drop before laughing and leveling out.
Chapter 10: “Who’s This Guy?!”
The Huey drops into LZ Jane in Quang Tri Province, a bare, hilly outpost near the DMZ. A sergeant major strides up, demanding to know who the civilian is; the wary GI from the plane immediately disowns any connection. Chick explains the mission. The sergeant major bursts into laughter—and decides to help. Using only a roster number, he calls Sergeant Duggan back from an ambush position and has troops hide Chick under a poncho in a foxhole.
Rick arrives, confused. “This guy over here wants to see you,” the sergeant major says. The poncho comes off, and Chick pops up. Rick freezes, staring like he’s seen a ghost, repeating the same question: what is Chick doing here? When Chick hands him a beer and explains, the men around them crack up. The sergeant major, grinning but mindful of the danger, ends it with an order: “He’s yours now—take him with you.”
Character Development
Chick’s beer run shifts from harebrained caper to audacious quest. As he moves deeper into the war, each encounter tests (and proves) his nerve, adaptability, and loyalty.
- John "Chick" Donohue: Resourceful, fearless in a naïve way, and fueled by loyalty. The “CIA Effect” becomes his accidental superpower, revealing his instinct for reading people and systems.
- Tommy Collins: His delighted shock validates the mission’s emotional core—small tokens from home matter.
- Kevin McLoone: Represents parallel service on the civilian side; his sudden appearance underscores the story’s streak of fate.
- Rick Duggan: His speechless disbelief becomes the section’s climax, highlighting how far toward the front Chick pushes his luck.
Themes & Symbols
Chick’s journey runs on Friendship, Loyalty, and Camaraderie. Every gate that opens, every ride given, and every laugh shared is powered by bonds—Inwood friendships and field solidarity alike. Soldiers warm to Chick not because of official authority, but because his mission radiates care from home.
At the same time, the chapters highlight The Realities and Absurdities of War. A civilian in a plaid shirt bluffs through airlifts and forward bases while wounded teenagers quietly return to combat. The war’s paranoia creates the space for the “CIA Effect,” where perception trumps paperwork and a confident tone outweighs regulations.
Symbols:
- The “CIA Effect”: A symbol of Vietnam’s fog-of-war paranoia; identity and authority blur, and appearance becomes a passkey.
- The Beer: A portable homecoming—tangible proof that the front line is remembered by the neighborhood that sent these men.
Key Quotes
“Well you got here, didn’t ya?!”
- The supply sergeant’s line reframes impossibility as precedent. If Chick can break one barrier, he can break the next—so the mail run becomes plausible.
“This guy over here wants to see you.”
- Deadpan and procedural, the sergeant major’s intro tees up the emotional reveal. Military routine delivers one of the book’s most surreal reunions.
“Never pass an American.”
- The jeep driver’s rule captures wartime camaraderie beyond units and ranks. In Vietnam, nationality itself becomes a bond and a moral obligation.
“He’s yours now—take him with you.”
- The laugh-line that turns into a practical order. It signals both acceptance of Chick’s presence and the escalating stakes of attaching him to a combat unit.
Why This Matters and Section Significance
These chapters prove the mission’s mechanics: Chick can actually find people, deliver beers, and keep moving. The “CIA Effect” supplies a believable engine for his progress through a rigid war machine, while the path from Qui Nhon to LZ Jane steadily raises the danger. Each lucky break builds momentum—and the uneasy sense that fortune can’t hold forever—setting up higher-risk encounters to come.