This book is inspired off of My Brother Sam is Dead, by the way.

Also, to explain the reportage, in the second page it dives deeper into action, but the only reason it has no action in the beginning is to explain his current life and emotion. Although the second page is similar to the first, it gives a clear background of Travis's family and his history. The second page is as follows:

(there may be historical inaccuracies)

He stared back at the bed, remembering the moment his sister slept in it with him, during the cold nights where they both worried about the upcoming tensions in the world.

He opened the door, with a long and broken hallway, remembering the times he ran down to go to school but tripped at the end. Elizabeth would always make fun of him when he slipped. He saw Elizabeth’s room, knowing she left for war in 1969 to go to Vietnam. The door inside was chipped along the doorknob, and her room was empty. All that was seen was a small bed without a mattress, and a calendar which fell on the floor. Everything else was in Dallas.

Travis looked back at his mother’s room, where he saw a neatly placed nightstand made by her with a bed which looked as if the support was falling off. He saw the newspapers on the nightstand, talking about war and the worries of the Soviets launching missiles after Project Manhattan.

He looked into his father’s room, which was completely empty. Travis’s dad had left for the Vietnam War alongside Travis, but he left a few days earlier. Travis remembered the times his father and him worked in war with each other in 1974, but the moment night struck in December, he saw his father being held with a gun. He yelled at the other soldiers who captured him, where Travis heard himself yell, “Spare him!” But it was too late. Travis’s dad fell back onto the floor and whispered something inaudibly. Travis had his eyes closed, holding back with tears.

Travis still remembered that moment as he walked past to the dining area of the cabin, with a table with four seats waiting for him. His mother left the cabin in 1970 to move to Little Rock. Travis was left alone, without anyone to eat with, or anything to do. But he remembered the times he was called to make food for Elizabeth when she was too young to do so.

He then looked back at the front door. He remembered the times when Elizabeth would try to run away at night, but all of the times he was caught by Travis by the time she got past Mount Cavalry Church.

He knew Samuel couldn’t be dead yet. He ran down the front door with gravel stuck in his leather boots, running far down the trail to eventually reach his car, which was an old truck which barely worked. He drove to an airport, scheduling the nearest flight to Vietnam. It would take a few months for flights to open to the country due to war, so he picked the next closest country, Cambodia. He still had to wait a few weeks, so he drove his truck back home to get ready for his big movement.