A Watcher, Not a FighterBefore he joined the army, Richard Perry's teacher told him to stop being an observer. He's always been an outside-looking-in kind of guy. Which, by the way, is a handy qual...

These Are the JokesIf you have to go to war, Peewee's the guy you want to go with. Not because of his combat skills—though they aren't too shabby, especially compared to Perry. It's because his j...

Don't Ask, Don't TellThe thing that seems to follow Lobel around is the accusation that he's gay. He doesn't talk about men like he's interested in them, but there's something about him that seems...

That's Me in the Corner…Richard Perry doesn't have a relationship with his real dad, but Lieutenant Carroll just might be his wartime substitute dad. At first, anyway.Lieutenant Carroll is Perry'...

Teenage DreamAt first Monaco seems sort of like an extra in a movie, just background wallpaper. Then the scene comes when he throws an empty grenade at Brunner and Brunner calls Monaco "a f***ing k...

A Way OutLike a song, Simpson has a chorus: I'm getting out soon. He repeats it, again and again. Not as catchy as The Simpsons theme song, but it works for this Simpson. Perry joins the platoon wh...

The first time we see Johnson, he's lifting a pump onto a truck when three other soldiers can't do it. That's one strong dude. He doesn't say much when he does this, and maybe that's why Peewee cal...

Brunner is the jerk of the platoon. He says things that are racist and homophobic. He complains about the hippies and Commies who dodge and protest the draft. If he lived in today's world, he'd be...

Gearhart's the man who replaces Lieutenant Carroll after he dies. Big shoes to fill already, and what's worse, he seems like a terrible replacement. He's not naturally the kind of leader who cares...

Jenkins is a skinny, awkward guy who arrives in Vietnam with Perry and Peewee. He's the opposite of them: while Peewee and Perry joke around, acting like they're not scared to go into combat, Jenki...