Kien almost kills one of the officers, then almost kills himself. Then he sees her, by chance, wandering back toward the road and calling his name. He decides to abandon her.
Such is the first day of the Vietnam War for Kien and Phuong. Beginning with that abandonment, Kien makes a project of hardening himself to the needs of combat, even though he makes the mistakes of inexperience. For example, he wastes time trying to figure out how he can help his first commander, Quang, who is blown in half by a shell before his eyes, who begs Kien to shoot
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