War has an odd way of creating relationships between people. It also creates paranoia and fear. Jensen’s fear of Strunk may have been a tinged with paranoia but it was also rational. Jensen punched the guy in the face, broke his nose. Not exactly a smart idea to go around punching people in the face who also have guns. I’m sure that in a normal setting the situation would have been done with it. Vietnam is not a normal setting by a long shot. They were in a strange land, in a dark jungle full of strange sounds and waiting enemies. Strunk never make any threats or hinted at any signs of revenge. Strunk was silent and maybe that was what drove Jensen crazy. He had no idea if he was still mad or plotting something. He could only wonder. Jensen broke his own nose as a way to get even. Maybe it was all a part of Strunk’s strategy the whole time.
It’s odd how such an event can bring two people closer together. They became almost like best friends. They began protecting each other and even made a contract. They promised to end it if one of them got injured really badly. I guess that sounded macho to them or something. When Strunk got half of his leg blown off he wimped out on their agreement. He begs Jensen not to kill and Jensen complies but Strunk dies anyway in the helicopter. Poor guy never even got to make it home. I don’t think Jensen really had it in him to kill Strunk anyway. That would have been too personal, too real.
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