Timers

The Short-Timers is a semi-autobiographical novel by former Marine Gustav Hasford about his experience in the Vietnam War. It was later adapted into the film Full Metal Jacket by Hasford, Michael Herr, and Stanley Kubrick. more...

The book is now out of print, but Hasford's website offers free downloads.

Plot summary

The book is divided into three sections, written in completely different styles of prose.

"The Spirit of the Bayonet" chronicles Pvt. James T. "Joker" Davis' days in the Marine Corps boot camp, where a drill instructor (Sergeant Gerheim) breaks the men's spirit and then rebuilds them as brutal killers. Here Joker befriends Pvt. Cowboy and Pvt. Pyle, whose ineptitude and weak character ultimately makes him snap and kill Gerheim after one last act of madness. Pyle, after aiming at Joker, pulls the trigger on himself. This section is written in a very simple, savage style.

"Body Count" shows some of Joker's life as a war correspondent for the Marines. He travels to Huế with Rafter Man, his photographer, and meets up with Cowboy, a friend from boot camp, and assistant squad leader in the Lusthog Squad. During a battle, Joker is "wounded" (actually only knocked out by an RPG concussion blast) and the book goes into a psychedelic dream sequence. After his quick recovery, Joker learns that the squad leader, Crazy Earl, was KIA after apparently going insane in battle and attempting to kill an NVA machine-gun position with his Red-Ryder BB gun. Later, Joker and Rafter Man battle a sniper that killed T.H.E. Rock and the entire Hardass Squad, with the battle ending with Rafter Man's first confirmed kill and Cowboy being wounded slightly. The vignette ends with Joker "humping" to his next assignment with Rafterman, and, as a tank approaches, Rafterman panics and, while trying to get away, is run over, split in half, and then dies. The writing style in "Body Count" is more complex than that in "The Spirit of the Bayonet".

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