The Short-Timers is a novel written by Gustav Hasford. Released in 1979, it tells of a marine being enlisted in the Vietnam War. The Short-Timers was originally planned to be part of a trilogy of novels but Hasford died before he could write the third book in the series.
Characters[]
- James T. "Joker" Davis
rest to be added
Publisher's summary[]
This novel was the source text of Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket". It follows the career of the sardonic narrator from the organized sadism of Marine basic training to an assignment as a combat reporter in Vietnam to his experiences as a platoon commander after the Tet offensive, portraying the descent into barbarism that marked America's intervention in Vietnam.
Full summary[]
The book is divided into three sections, written in completely different styles of prose, and follows James T. "Joker" Davis through his enlistment in the United States Marine Corps and deployment to Vietnam.
Joker and his fellow Marines refer to military personnel in various ways. A "short" service-member, or "short-timer", is one who is approaching the end of his tour of duty in Vietnam, described in the novel as 385 days for Marines and 365 days for members of other armed services. "Lifers" are distinguished not necessarily by their length of time served, but rather by their attitude toward the lower ranks. (Joker describes the distinction as follows: "A lifer is anybody who abuses authority he doesn't deserve to have. There are plenty of civilian lifers.") Finally, the term "poges" (an alternative spelling for the slang term "pogues") is short for "Persons Other than Grunts"—Marines who fill non-combat roles such as cooks, clerks, and mechanics. Poges are a favorite target of the front-line troops' derision, and vice versa.
During Joker's days in recruit training at Parris Island, a drill instructor, Gunnery Sergeant Gerheim, sadistically breaks the men's spirits and then rebuilds them as heartless killers. Here, Joker befriends two recruits nicknamed "Cowboy" and "Gomer Pyle". The latter, whose real name is Leonard Pratt, earns the wrath of both Gerheim and the rest of the platoon through his ineptitude and weak character. Though he eventually shows great improvement and wins honors at graduation, the constant abuse unbalances his mind. In a final act of madness, he kills Gerheim and then himself in front of the whole platoon.]
In 1968, during a tour of duty in Vietnam, Joker runs across Cowboy in Da Nang. The two are now, respectively, a war correspondent for the Marines and the assistant leader of the Lusthog Squad. As the Tet Offensive begins, Joker is dispatched to Phu Bai with his photographer, Rafter Man. Here, Joker unwillingly accepts a promotion from corporal to sergeant, and the two journalists travel to Huế to cover the enemy's wartime atrocities and meet Cowboy again. During a battle, Joker is knocked unconscious by a concussion blast and experiences a psychedelic dream sequence. When he comes to several hours later, he learns that the platoon commander was killed by a friendly grenade, and the squad leader went insane and was killed by North Vietnamese Army troops while attacking one of their positions with a BB gun.
Later, Joker and Rafter Man battle a sniper who killed another Lusthog Marine and an entire second squad; the battle ends with Rafter Man's first confirmed kill and Cowboy being wounded slightly. As Joker and Rafter Man start back to Phu Bai, Rafter Man panics and dashes into the path of an oncoming tank, which fatally crushes him. Joker is reassigned to Cowboy's squad as a rifleman, as punishment for wearing an unauthorized peace button on his uniform.
Now stationed at Khe Sanh with Cowboy's squad, Joker accompanies them on a patrol through the surrounding jungle. They encounter another sniper here, who wounds three of the men multiple times. After the company commander goes insane and starts babbling nonsense over the radio, Cowboy decides to pull the squad back and retreat, rather than sacrifice everyone trying to save the wounded men. Animal Mother, the squad's M60 machine gunner, threatens Cowboy's life and refuses to retreat. Promoting Joker to squad leader, Cowboy runs in with his pistol and kills each victim with a shot to the head. However, he is mortally wounded in the process, and before he can kill himself, the sniper shoots him through the hand. Realizing his duty to Cowboy and the squad, Joker kills Cowboy and leads the rest of the men away.
See also[]
| Title | Author | Release date | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Bright Shining Lie | Neil Sheehan | 1988 | A book which examines the Vietnam War |
| The Things They Carried | Tim O'Brien | 1990 | A book which similarly examines the Vietnam War and the soldiers that fought in it |
| The Naked and the Dead | Norman Mailer | 1948 | A novel that similarly examines the character of a soldier during war |
| All Quiet on the Western Front | Erich Maria Remarque | 1929 | A novel that similarly examines the character of a soldier during war |