GET YOUR BODY INSTRUCTIONS.'
'What are 'body instructions,' for Christ's sake?' Hester said; but Owen ignored her.
'SOMETIMES I FLY BACK FROM SAN FRANCISCO,' he said. 'EITHER WAY, I GO CHECK THE CONTAINER IN THE BAGGAGE AREA-ABOUT TWO HOURS BEFORE WE TAKE OFF.'
'You check the plastic bag?' I asked him.
'IT'S A PLYWOOD CONTAINER,' he said. 'THERE'S NO BAG. THE BODY IS EMBALMED. IT'S IN A CASKET. IN CALIFORNIA, I JUST CHECK THE PLYWOOD CONTAINER.'
'For what?' I said.
'FOR LEAKS,' he said. Hester looked as if she might throw up. 'AND THERE'S INFORMATION STAPLED TO THE CONTAINER-I JUST MATCH THAT UP WITH THE K.I.A. SHEET.'
' 'K.I.A.'-what's that?' I said.
'KILLED IN ACTION,' he said.
'Yes, of course,' I said.
'BACK IN ARIZONA, IN THE FUNERAL HOME- THAT'S WHEN I CHECK THE BODY,' he said.
'I don't want to hear any more,' Hester said.
'OKAY,' he said; he shrugged. When we got away from Hester-we went to the Gravesend Academy gym to practice the shot, of course-I kept asking him about the bodies.
'USUALLY, YOU DISCUSS WITH THE MORTICIAN WHETHER OR NOT THE BODY IS SUITABLE FOR VIEWING-WHETHER OR NOT THE FAMILY SHOULD SEE IT,' he said. 'SOMETIMES THE FAMILY WANTS TO BE CLOSE TO YOU-THEY FEEL YOU'RE ONE OF THEM. OTHER TIMES, YOU GET THE FEELING YOU SHOULD KEEP OUT OF THEIR WAY-YOU HAVE TO PLAY THIS PART BY EAR. AND THEN THERE'S THE FOLDING OF THE FLAG-YOU GIVE THE FLAG TO THE MOTHER, USUALLY; OR TO THE WIFE, IF THERE'S A WIFE. THAT'S WHEN YOU GIVE YOUR LITTLE SPEECH.'
'What do you say?' I asked him. He was dribbling the basketball, his head nodding almost imperceptibly to the rhythm of the ball bouncing on the floor, his eyes always on the rim of the basket. ' 'IT IS MY PRIVILEGE TO PRESENT TO YOU OUR COUNTRY'S FLAG IN GRATEFUL APPRECIATION FOR THE SERVICE RENDERED TO THIS NATION BY YOUR SON'- NATURALLY, YOU SAY 'BY YOUR HUSBAND,' IF YOU'RE GIVING THE FLAG TO A WIFE,' he added.
'Naturally,' I said; he passed me the ball.
'READY?' he said. He was already moving toward me-already timing his leap and, in his mind's eye, seeing the shot fall-when I passed the ball back to him. Those were brief days and nights; we tried to remember which government spokesman had said that Operation Rolling Thunder was 'closing in on Hanoi.' That was what had prompted Owen to say: 'I THINK HANOI CAN HANDLE IT.'
According to the State Department-according to Dean Rusk-we were 'winning a war of attrition.' That was what prompted Owen to say: 'THAT'S NOT THE KIND OF WAR WE WIN.'
He had revised a few of his earlier views of our Vietnam policy. Some veterans of the war, whom he'd met at Fort
Huachuca, had convinced him that Marshal Ky had once been popular, but now the Viet Cong was gaining the support of South Vietnamese peasants-because our troops had pulled out of the populated areas and were wasting their time chasing the North Vietnamese through the jungles and the mountains. Owen wanted to learn why our troops didn't pull back into the populated areas and wait for the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong to come to them. If we were 'protecting' South Vietnam, why didn't we stay with the people and protect them? On the other hand, it was confusing because many of the Vietnam veterans Owen had met were of the opinion that we should be fighting more 'all-out,' that we should bomb North Vietnam even more, mine the harbors, and make an amphibious landing north of the DMZ to cut the supply lines for the North Vietnamese Army-in short, fight to win. There was no way to really know what we should do if one didn't go over there and see it, Owen said, but he believed that trying to win a conventional war against North Vietnam was stupid. We should stay in South Vietnam and protect the South Vietnamese from North Vietnamese aggression, and from the Viet Cong- until such time as the South Vietnamese developed an army and, more important, a government that was strong and popular enough to make South Vietnam capable of protecting itself.
'Then the South Vietnamese will be able to attack North Vietnam all by themselves-is that what you mean?' Hester asked him. 'You make about as much sense as LBJ,' she said. Hester wouldn't say 'President Johnson.'
As for President Johnson, Owen said: 'THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A WORSE PRESIDENT-THERE COULDN'T BE A WORSE ONE, UNLESS THEY ELECT MCNAMARA.'
Hester talked about the 'Peace Movement.'
'WHAT 'PEACE MOVEMENT'?-OR DO YOU MEAN THE
