How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
I started wondering how complicated Cindy's thoughts got about things. She knew Mark was fighting in Vietnam, but did she know what war looked like? Was she scared he wouldn't come home, or that he'd come home missing an arm or a leg? (11.21)
It's hard to answer that. Cindy doesn't understand what's happening around her like other people do. She knows her brother is fighting a war, and she even tells Jamie that's his job, yet she doesn't fear the outcome of war in the same way as many of the other families of soldiers.
Quote #8
"I thought college would keep TJ out of the war, but I was wrong. I thought I could keep him safe, but I was wrong about that, too." (13.33)
Regrettably, the Colonel admits he doesn't control the war as much as he would like. Even though it goes against every rule in the book (which he's a stickler for), the Colonel tried to keep TJ away from Vietnam because he's so scared of what might happen to him over there. He's motivated by fear more than anything else.
Quote #9
He meant that my brother was somewhere in Vietnam, but nobody knew exactly where, and nobody knew exactly what he was doing, or if he was doing anything at all. He might just be sitting there, on a half-rotten log in the jungle, a bamboo leaf tickling his ear, just sitting there and waiting for somebody to find him. (15.23)
When TJ goes missing, Jamie can't even process the information. She doesn't want to give into the fear that paralyzes her by thinking of the worst-case scenarios. Once she starts to imagine what might be happening to TJ, she starts freaking out about him being captured as a POW.