Continued+Summary

Moving into the third chapter, Anthony starts his first day as an active Marine in Saudi Arabia, which he is not happy about. His days are tedious and consist of "water, sweat and piss." After six weeks of the same monotinous tasks, the men of STA 2/7 Battallion become excited because reporters finally come. Before the Marines are allowed to speak with the reporters, they are informed that free speach does not exist in the Marines. This is important because it represents one of Anthony's problems with the loss of individuality and freedom the Corps forces on him. After their interviews, they are forced to play football in 110 degree weather wearing full MOPP gear and gas masks. During the game, a small fight turns into a big fight, which in turn, becomes nothing but a "field-f*** " or a rough, mock-violation of one of the members of STA. Swofford goes on to explain that it is nothing sexual but more a way to take out all the frustration that their situation presents them with.

The fourth chapter rewinds Anthony to his experience with Boot Camp. He was selected for the platoon scribe position his second day which turned unpleasant in the form of physical abuse when his Drill Instructor discovered his problems with drawing, an important skill for a scribe. He sees physical, mental, and verbal abuse in every form all the way to the end. (Eagle, Globe, (MOPP gear) (Eagle, Globe, and Anchor (Marine Scout Sniper. Swofford's Position) and Anchor.) with Marine's motto "Semper Fidelis" or "always faithfull")

Chapter 5 begins to talk about some of his experiences in Japan while on leave. He meets a young girl named Yumiko and they become physically involved. This chapter is mostly important because of his discussion with Yumiko about Mt Fuij and the end of the chapter. In his Fuji talk, he flashes back tro when he was growing up on a military base in Japan and on the Bicentenial of America (July 4, 1976), his father tries to explain to him his countries history but he has a hard time understanding because A he was young and B he was living far away from America. This shows the authors continued questioning of what America is. Also, at the end of the chapter, he and Yumiko depart from each other and in saying goodbye, he experiences more passion than at any other point in his life. The photo is Mt. Fuji



Chapter 6 is more of the stroy of his father and how Anthony was concieved than about Anthony himself. The main purpose of this chapter is to point out that it shows his indifferent relationship with his parents started at an early age. .