Philip Caputo's first quote was from the beginning of the war, when everything was "wonderful" and Americans had no doubts. The second quote was only a year later, but a lot can change in a year, and Caputo saw this first hand. The first quote was at a time when the American soldiers were told that “A running Vietnamese was a fair target.” no matter what. Even if they didn’t have a weapon, they …showed first 75 words of 408 total…

…showed last 75 words of 408 total…became almost numb to the death that was taking part all around them. A big part in changing Captuo’s attitude was when they found the hut with all of the pictures and personal belongings of the VC. This seemed to make the men realize that the VC were real people and had families just like them, that they were not just fighting machines. In the end, Philip Caputo ended up getting charged with murder