Checkers

In the book, there were many phrases that stood out to me. It was about Norman Bowker and Henry Dobbins and how they would play checkers every night. "There were red checkers and black checkers. The playing field was laid out in a strict grid, no tunnels or mountains or jungles. You knew where you stood. You knew the score. The pieces were out on the board, the enemy was visible, you could watch the tactics unfolding into larger strategies. There was a winner and a loser. There were rules" (page 32). I know that is a really long quote but I couldn't cut anything out because it all captures what Vietnam was not. The soldiers did not have a clear enemy. The enemy wore no uniform. There was guerrilla warfare which made anyone a possible threat. There are supposed to be rules to wars but the rules are often broken and go undetected. In a game of checkers, if the opponent cheats, it can be more easily caught. When Vietnam was over, there was an unclear end. Like the war in Iraq, there will be no clear winner or loser.