3. One of the books' major accomplishments is the way in which McDonough brought some of the people back to life with a simple yet strong narrative and descriptive style. McDonough, for instance, took over platoon leadership from Tom Rolfe, an individual who felt, in essence "his platoon be damned". His concern over his own welfare in the heat of battle over those under his command, along with a lack of loyalty, duty, and honor during his tour highlights his obvious lack of adherence to core army values.
4. PFC James King, sadly, was a known drug user and was famously insubordinate, as in the time when he shot a 40 MM round menacingly by the Lieutenant's head in defiance of an order he did not care for. McDonough responded coolly by retaliating with an M-16 shaft on his neck, forcing him to back down. This disrespectful behavior is in strong contrast to that of the de facto leader at the time of Rolfe's tenure, Sgt. Donne, who demonstrated great technical and tactical skills by establishing defense perimeters, supervising overall control of villages and directing patrol missions, all while heading without fail the directives of his superiors.
5. Platoon Sergeant John Hernandez 's honor and initiative was deplorably absent as evidenced by the apparent rape of a local woman and an inability to aggressively strike out at the enemy, which might end his chances of comfortable stateside retirement by his untimely battle death. His hesitancy and over-cautiousness were unfortunate considering the fact that he followed implicitly SOP's and was a solid leader in other ways.
