How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I saw Brunner pocket a small statue from one of the huts. I told him about it and he gave me the finger.
"Maybe you'll be a better dude when you come back in your next life," I said. "Who knows, cockroaches might be in by then."
He took a step toward me, and Johnson—I hadn't seen him nearby—stepped next to me. Brunner looked at Johnson, then turned on his heel and walked away.
"He ain't spit," Johnson said. (9.44)
Johnson's like the silent protector. He's such a big guy that he just has to stand next to Perry to send a message. But he doesn't have to do it. He sees protecting the other black men in his platoon as part of his job—but something deeper than a job, too.
Quote #2
At the camp Sergeant Simpson asked me to write a letter to Lieutenant Carroll's family. I said I couldn't do it, and he asked me why.
"I just can't," I said.
"If he was laying out in the boonies, and he was calling to you needing your help, what would you do?"
"He's not laying out in the boonies," I said.
"Yeah, man, he is," Simpson said. "He just in too deep to get out." (11.4-8)
Carroll is dead, so there's not much actual calling out for help happening here. But Simpson is making sure what he would want is getting carried out, including a letter of condolence to his wife, and a well written one at that. That means getting the best writer in the platoon to do the job, even though there's the extra step of Perry feeling too upset to do it. Writing the letter will mean admitting that Carroll is gone, and it takes knowing he's helping out Carroll to help Perry over that hurdle.
Quote #3
I had to get my mind off of Lieutenant Carroll. The guys in the squad hung out together after we got back to the camp. The conversation was quiet, almost reverent. (11.22)
The guys in the platoon don't always know how to mourn their lost comrades, but they do their best. Even little things like keeping their conversation solemn helps them show their respect.