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Show ?7/ He pressed his hand to my moving l i p s , " . . . I know i t i s n ' t clear-cut anymore. But h e ' s from the old school. He'd see me t h a t way. "Brian, you don't know. . . y o u ' v e never talked to him about anything besides pinochle. I. d o n ' t know how he f e e l s about Vietnam. All I know i s t h a t he h a t e s communism and that he fears that the domino theory w i l l become a r e a l i t y , like ever other conservative in America. But he wasn't ashamed that he missed going i n t o the Second World War by a b i r t h d a y ." "That's a l l i t would take - a b e l i e f in the domino theory. Even I can see i t at work. Somebody has to stop them. And it might as well be me. If I stayed here, I ' d probably blow off somebody's head anyway, out of pure f r u s t r a t i o n . I wouldn't be in this mess i f i t wasn't f o r . . . " He broke off, his face and lips white. "Oh, Brian, such t a l k ! Why do you t a l k t h a t way? You can't go to Vietnam. Can you?" "Can I what?" "Kill people. Actually k i l l people? I t ' s a s i n . One of the biggest. 'Thou, s h a l t not k i l l ! ' " Brian shook h i s head. "I wouldn't k i l l unless I had t o ." "What does t h a t mean? Killing i s k i l l i n g . Bloodshed. Taking another l i f e . Oh, Brian, you a r e n ' t the k i l l i n g kind!" Brian s t a r e d a t the r a i n . "I could i f I had t o ." " I t . . . i t sounds as though you've already decided." He looked s u r p r i s e d . "I guess I have." "You're going? Oh, why? Why do you have to go?" "Because I made a commitment." "A commitment! To who? To the Marine Corps? They don't °are about vou! You made a commitment to me, to our child! |
