Pharaoh’s Army: Memories of the Lost War

Wolff is discharged in Oakland the day he returns; he is asked if he wants to sign up for another tour and return at the rank of Captain, but he declines.

He spends a week at a hotel in San Francisco, wandering the city during the day and hitting the bars at night. He returns once to the Haight; however, the “hug patrols” have been replaced by angry, destitute people, and he does not go back. He understands that he could head back to Washington—his mother and brother are anxious for him to return, while Vera has broken things off with her new boyfriend and is looking to try again with Wolff—but he chooses to remain in San Francisco, in part due to shame.

One day, he takes the bus to Berkeley with the intent to apply to school, figuring that his father’s residence will get him a break on tuition. He stops to listen to speakers at a protest, though, and laughs out loud when one declares himself to be “in a state of unconditional war with the United States” (195). Another listener makes a condescending remark toward Wolff, and the two nearly come to blows. Wolff stops, though, when he realizes that his anger is unhinged, and the rest of the audience is staring at him with pity.

Wolff returns to Manhattan Beach to see his father, and this time things go better. They spend a night out on the town; the next day, his father is diagnosed with the flu, so Wolff stays and takes care of him. After a couple of days, his father gets better, and Wolff still hangs on. At one point, his father shows interest in the book Wolff is reading, Portnoy’s Complaint, but expresses disgust at the contents when Wolff loans it to him. He argues that Wind in the Willows is better because it shows “you didn’t have to be dirty to be humorous” (199).

Wolff remembers the book, as his father read it to him and his brother when they were children; he is not a fan of the book, but he still lets his father read it to him anyway. As he reads, Wolff realizes that Toad, who is at turns audacious, shameless, and incorrigible but also good-hearted and hospitable, is his father.

Wolff spends more time in Manhattan Beach than he planned, spending his afternoons by the water, his evenings at a bar down the road, and his nights sitting with his father. Once, his father suggests that he may be drinking too much; Wolff responds by coming back even drunker than usual to reinforce what their relationship is.

One afternoon, he meets a woman, Jan, on the beach; they see a film together, then grab a drink at Wolff’s local bar. When they arrive, he realizes how seedy the bar actually is, but she insists on staying. Very quickly, Dicky and Sleepy, a couple regulars, join them. Dicky is another former soldier, an outspoken man with rough, jocular humor.

Dicky ribs Wolff, telling him that all officers are the same because they will all hang you out to dry. Wolff defends himself, telling Dicky that he only ever hung one person out to dry, and it was another officer. He begins telling the story about Kale and the Chinook helicopter but immediately regrets it because he cannot find the right tone for “such a terrible story” (207). He ends up leaning into it as a humorous tale for Dicky’s benefit, but by the time he finishes, he sees that Jan is looking at him “with an expression so thoroughly disappointed as to be devoid of reproach” (207).

The next morning, Wolff decides to return to Washington. He tells his father over dinner at a nice restaurant; his father is disappointed but waves it off. As they finish dinner, his father hands him his Heuer chronograph watch, insisting he take it, which Wolff does not hesitate to do. Sometime later, Wolff’s brother Geoffrey notices the watch while playing cards, and they realize that, despite its expense, their father likely had not actually paid for it.

Back east, Wolff and Vera move into her family’s Maryland estate. He sees that he is now as temperamental and edgy as Vera once was. Still, Wolff spends his time working on his writing and actually making some progress. Eventually, though, he realizes that he and Vera are not good for one another and decides to return to Washington. She threatens to shoot herself, but when he reminds her she already threatened that before, she laughs and admits she thought that had been someone else.

A week later, Wolff travels to England with friends and remains after his friends return to the States. He appreciates it because his money stretches further than back home, plus no one asks him about Vietnam. Wolff decides to take the Oxford entrance exams and hires tutors in each of the subject areas. He passes the exam and matriculates to Oxford to study English.