A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo includes a prologue in which the author tells us that his book is “simply about war, about the things men do in war, and the things that war does to them.” As it turns out, these “things” are fairly significant for they change Caputo from a young, enthusiastic Marine filled with idealism into a tired, cynical and disillusioned war veteran. Caputo’s idealism is tempered with ambivalence about a war where the climate acted as much as an enemy as booby traps and Viet Cong. Throughout the book we see his firsthand account of the boredom and bravery, the sacrifice and fear, and the savagery yet communion of men at war. Caputo’s youthful idealism turns toward savagery and hatred, especially because of his involvement in the murder of an innocent Vietnamese though to be an informer. As Caputo writes, “The dead boy’s mouth screamed silently his innocence and our guilt. In the darkness and confusion, out of fear, exhaustion and brutal instincts acquired in war, the marines had made a mistake. An awful mistake. They had killed the wrong man.”
The war described by Caputo is one of intensity and profound implications. Caputo informs us that by the end of his sixteen months in combat he was “both opposed to the war and yet emotionally tied to it.” His opposition comes from his recognition that war is far from the glamorous adventure portrayed by Hollywood and closer to hell. Caputo feels emotionally tied to the war because of his own sacrifices and those of other marines. His patriotic fervor at the beginning of his tour of duty, however, becomes tempered with ambivalence because of the self-righteous attitude prevalent among American youths opposed to the war and his firsthand observations of the mindless savagery war actually represents. His ambivalence also stems from America’s deliberate indifference to the fate of men it sent into the violent
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