- Peewee asks Richard why he's in the army if he finished high school, and we readers get a little backstory. Richard had good enough grades to go to City College, but he was too poor. Like, only had one set of clothes to get him through high school poor. He joined the army to make some money so that his little brother Kenny would have clothes and stay in school.
- Richard's surprised to see a lot of other black men in the army. There's one man who wants them to swear a blood oath that they'll stick together. The guy cuts himself to get the oath party started. But Peewee's not sharing his blood, and calls the other guy crazy.
- Richard and Peewee play a lot of checkers and don't see combat. Eventually a new guy named Jenkins arrives. Peewee pretends to have been in Vietnam for nine months and tells Jenkins things just to scare him.
- The men get an orientation lecture and are told to stay away from Vietnamese women, the black market, and drugs.
- Richard, Peewee, Jenkins, and another guy are assigned to the 196th and sent to Chu Lai. While waiting for transport, Richard and Peewee decide to mingle their spit instead of doing a blood oath, as a pact to stick together. That's cute, we guess, and slightly less gross.