Answer: Meet eighteen-year-old Robin, who goes by Birdy (get it?). He mostly talks directly to the reader—that's you—but the book is also sprinkled with Birdy's letters to his parents and his Uncle Richie, who was in the Vietnam War. To his parents, Birdy mostly writes cheery letters telling them not to worry. Only his letters to Uncle Richie hint at more of what's really going on, both in the war and in his head.
The novel starts when Birdy's in Kuwait, waiting with his new unit to see if there's going to be a war at all. We meet some of Birdy's unit along with him: a blonde, sassy woman named Marla and a Georgia man named Jonesy, whose dream is to one day open a blues club.
Jonesy and Birdy decide to watch each other's backs…and a bromance is born.
When it comes time to assign people to squads (each squad rides in the same Humvee), Marla, Jonesy, and Birdy are grouped together, along with their immediate boss, Captain Coles. It's a good group all around.
After watching a lot of videos about the war, and reading some very confusing Rules of Engagement about who they can and can't shoot, Birdy's unit is sent into Iraq. And that's where things get very real, very quickly.
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