Robert

Wrote a whole book about it.

Yeah, yeah.

And when somebody believes that and buys into that and goes as far as getting on the assault boat next to the coast but never quite gets to have it, there's like a degree of failure to launch almost syndrome that I think is going to spark in him the rest of his life.

He never gets over this, you know?

And he doesn't even go into the country, right?

Like he's living on this boat.

So it's like he's living on the boat.

Yeah, that's like even worse, because even if you go to one of these bases, it's very similar to any other irregular conflict where you might get ambushed.

Still, you might get artillery, might get mortared, whatever.

Something could still happen that you can kind of grab onto that you did something.

But he's just sitting on a boat.

He's just sitting on a boat, and it's just not the thing he wants it to be.

Now, again, he does – he's not a draftee, so he's not just doing his like one quick in and out.

He does a full four years.

During his time as a sergeant, he develops a reputation for what that Times journalist Butterfield calls a reputation as a macho officer.

And again, he's not an officer.

That's Butterfield using the wrong terminology here.

Yeah, he's a non-commissioned officer.

Yeah, he's a non-comm.

And specifically a macho quote in the Clint Eastwood Dirty Harry mold.