He quickly makes it clear that he does not regret any of his actions as a Viet Cong captive, and he expresses his disgust and outrage at having been sent by his country to fight in a futile war. Joker is sent to Yokosuka Naval Hospital in Japan for medical treatment and psychological counseling. When a team of Army soldiers arrives to rescue him, he is wounded in the ensuing firefight but manages to shoot down one of their choppers with a discarded M79 before passing out and being evacuated from the area. As time passes, however, he begins to side increasingly with the Viet Cong, seeing them – the people he has been trained to kill – as ordinary human beings just like himself. In Joker's mind, his best chance is to fool them into believing he has converted to their cause, to accompany them on an attack against an American position, and then to make his escape when the shooting starts. He has not been tortured or sent to a POW camp, and his captors have begun to trust him to some degree. Joker has been living and working in a small Viet Cong village for over a year since his capture, waiting for a chance to escape. The next night, Joker ventures out in search of the Phantom Blooper, but is wounded by friendly fire and captured by the enemy. The Marines turn back the attack, suffering heavy losses in the process. Later, as the Viet Cong attempt to overrun the base, Joker splits his platoon sergeant's tongue with a straight razor. He sets up one of his squad-mates to be killed in an attempt to draw the Phantom Blooper out of hiding, then forces an inattentive Marine on guard duty to hold a live hand grenade with the pin out. As a result, Joker's behavior has become increasingly erratic and violent. Joker is still haunted by the memory of his friend Cowboy, who had been wounded and whom Joker mercy-killed in order to keep their squad from being cut down by a sniper. Joker blames their deaths on "The Phantom Blooper": an elusive enemy, supposedly American and armed with an M79 grenade launcher, who fights alongside the Viet Cong against his countrymen. He believes most of his previous squad-mates are dead, even the seemingly indestructible Animal Mother. Having been demoted from Sergeant to Private, Joker is still at the Khe Sanh base, which is about to be abandoned by American Marines after withstanding an extended siege by the North Vietnamese Army. The novel begins sometime after The Short-Timers leaves off and is divided into three parts. ( October 2015) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources.
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