Reading Heinemann's introduction, I was a bit skeptical about this fact. I thought they were just using it as a hook to get people to read the book. I admit I was totally wrong. Page after page, I could take the stories and compare them to those I heard, read, or saw about soldiers during the Vietnam War. I could see the Afgatsi in the desert fighting the dukh in the back of my mind as I saw the US soldiers in the jungle fighting Charlie. The way both groups were treated when they returned home from their “wars” was so similar it was like looking in a mirror. One soldier said: “We have not betrayed our homeland. I performed my duty as a soldier as honestly as possible. Nowadays it is called "dirty war", but how is it reconciled with ideals such as Patriotism, People and Duty? Is the word "Homeland" just a meaningless term for you? We did what the country asked of us." (160) This comment already expresses the feelings of the Russian soldiers and their families, but it also highlights the feelings that the American soldiers and their families felt after the Vietnam War. They all did what was asked of them by their government and their country, but they were accused of following orders. All the similarities and even some differences allowed me to do this