By the Rule

Draftee Philip Dosier tells the story of his war. Straight from high school, too young to vote or buy himself a drink, he enters a world of mud and heat, blood and body counts, ambushes and firefights. “Then it began—fifties and sixties and frags and AKs and RPGs—down toward the road where the seven-four had parked—frags and claymores and sixteens on auto and more AKs, lots of AKs—on the south side of the laager by Bravo Company and to the east by the grunts.”   The inspiration for fellow infantry man Oliver Stone’s Platoon, this unsparing, excerpted chapter from Larry Heinemann’s first novel, Close Quarters, captures the infamous New Years Day Battle of 1968 between the 25th Infantry Division and North Vietnamese Army. A Vintage Shorts Vietnam Selection. An ebook short.