To further continue with the usage of friendship, Walter Dean Myers shows friendship from the soldiers in other ways. An example in the book would be, "'Okay, you guys are all invited to the wedding I'll plan it so that the wedding will be after the last guy in the squad leaves Nam' 'How about me?' Johnson asked. 'you inviting me, too?' 'Yeah, all of us'" (Myers 169-170). During this time in the book, Monaco, a member of the squad, proposes to his girlfriend via letter in hopes of having a wedding. Monaco then invites each of his friends in which are the members of the squad to the future wedding. This shows sympathy for each member of the squad due to the fact that they plan to meet each other in the future after the war. This would support the usage of friendship because Monaco decided to keep his friends during the war as friends in the future hoping for the best for all of them and that each member would show up.

Another quote in the book supporting friendship would be, "Lieutenant Gearhart got Johnson away from Seargent Dongan and started pushing him towards the HQ hooch. Peewee told Johnson that is anything funky went down that he could count on him. 'You can count on me, too,' I said. I meant it, too" (Myers 244). During this part in the book, Johnson, a member of the squad, had a disagreement with a new Seargent (Dongan) due to him making irrational decisions because of his racism. Perry and the rest of the squad cared more about each other rather than listening to a soldier with higher authority. Peewee and Perry specifically say in this quote that they will be on Johnsons side rather than Dongans side no matter what. This agrees with the usage of friendship because it shows what limits each person would do for each other. As for Perry and Peewee, they will risk their rank/status in the military to stick with each other's agreements.

There are many more quotes in the book, showing the usage of friendship; friendship contains many connections to how the book plays out which is further discussed in the next segment.

Further enhancing the connection of Friendship, another important quote in the book would be, "Lieutenant Carroll's death was close. It hung around our shoulders and filled the spaces between us. Lieutenant Carroll had sat with us, had been afraid with us, had worried about us. Now he was dead" (Myers 129). During this part of the book, Perry and the rest of the squad had fled from a Vietnamese attack. Lieutenant Carroll was worried for the squad at the time and put himself forward for his members of the squad since they were struggling to escape. Lieutenant Carrol's death was a significant event in the book, along with it being very similar to how friendship connects to the book since Lieutenant Carroll showed sympathy towards the squad and saw potential in each member during his time in the book, in which led his decision to sacrifice himself for the safety of his team. This relates to the connection friendship due to the fact that the squad cared more for each other than themselves in which brings them to keep each other safe during patrols or any kind of attack on the Vietnamese.

Another significant quote in the book would be, "I looked around for a stick or something he could use as a crutch. I didn't see anything. My mind wasn't working anyway. Nothing made sense. I looked at Peewee to see how he was doing. He was looking at me through the oldest eyes I had ever seen. 'Gey my neck!' He threw his arm around my neck and I pulled him to his feet. We started off again" (Myers 294). During this time in the book, Perry and Peewee were running away from Vietnamese soldiers until Peewee was shot. Perry, not caring about anything else, helped Peewee up in order to get Peewee and himself to safety. This relates to the connection of friendship since Perry gave up everything in order to help Peewee out when running away from the Vietnamese, which affects the story by Peewee being alive due to Perrys' actions and how he cared for his friend

In conclusion, the connection of friendship creates major involvement in the story and affects how the story plays out; with many other quotes signifying the connection of friendship in the book.

Marriage after the Vietnam War: The war in Vietnam was less significant regarding marriage due to the ages of the soldiers being 18-35; many soldiers were unmarried during and after the war. Comparing soldiers from the Vietnam War to soldiers in World War 2, the soldiers in World War 2 had the requirements capable of being married which was their age. While soldiers from the Vietnam War were much younger and faced a lot of controversy from the actions happening in the war. Divorce rates were also at 30% during 1967, which was close to the end of the war, and when soldiers were coming back after being injured. but the rates of marriage ranged from 23% of the total amount of soldiers fighting in the war.

Shared PTSD from soldiers: Soldiers fighting in the war shared the same PTSD afterward due to the killing of other soldiers and the death of victims such as civilians caught in the crossfire, babies, elderly women, and combatants whom they fought with. All of this makes a veteran soldier more prone to PTSD when fighting in the Vietnam War compared to an average American citizen. Keeping in mind most Veterans coming back from the Vietnam War suffered some form of PTSD and had higher chances of suicide.

Controversy after the Vietnam War: The Vietnam War was arguably the most controversial war America currently faced. The Vietnam War involved lots of unnecessary deaths of south Vietnamese who were killed by North Vietnamese and sometimes American soldiers by accident. Unlike the soldiers coming back from the Vietnam War, Soldiers were honored by everyone in the United States and were given parades to celebrate their success and return. The American Soldiers coming back from the Vietnam War experienced a very controversial time due to what all of the news was stating about the war. Lots of citizens also hated American soldiers coming back from Vietnam due to the unnecessary amount of killing involved, creating a form of separation between the soldiers and society. This connects to friendship due to the fact that lots of people had a bad look at the American soldiers and separated them from themselves. This separation would affect how family members and friends from America thought of the person fighting in the war which would cause controversy.

American Soldier's Friendship with South Vietnamese Civilians: American soldiers had a very close bond with the South Vietnamese, whom they were fighting for. American soldiers would bring gifts and food to the civilians at certain villages in hopes of gaining their trust. The South Vietnamese, in return, would help the Americans with duties such as clothes cleaning, food making, cleaning barracks and offices, and also constructed military structures in hopes of fending off the North Vietnamese, known as the "Viet Cong" (VC).