- Jamie fills us in on a little background. She and her family live on an army base in Texas.
- It turns out that having a colonel for a dad means that army is a big deal in the family. Surprise, surprise.
- Just like on the base, the Colonel runs the show at home, too (heck, they even call him "Colonel" instead of dad).
- TJ and Jamie aren't sick of the army, though. In fact, they love playing army; the more soldiers they can kill in their games, the better.
- Basically, they use their toys to devise war strategies—think of it as video games for kids of the 1960s. Jamie can't get enough of war.
- That's why it's so weird to her that her dad isn't jumping up and down when TJ enlists for the army. It's all she's ever dreamed of.
- But the Colonel would rather TJ go to college, he claims; hit the books. Jamie knows something is up, but she can't figure out what. She guesses that her mom put the Colonel up to this.
- How else could you explain her dad not getting excited over her brother signing up for the Vietnam War?
- Jamie knows one of TJ's buddy's was captured in Vietnam recently, and the Colonel wonders aloud whether that's the reason TJ signed up in the first place.
- Even though TJ claims it has nothing to do with his decision, Jamie knows better. She gets that her bro wants to help find his friend—or at the very least, help bring down the guys who took his buddy in the first place.
- So what? Jamie doesn't see anything wrong with that.
- She's been told how important the army is all her life. In her mind, her brother is the lucky one for getting to join it.