In Country

The third part of In Country is less than 20 pages. As the chapter opens, Sam reflects on the events after her sojourn to Cawood’s Pond. Although she expected Emmett to “flip out,” she is surprised that she is the one most affected by spending the night in the swamp. She believes that now she is experiencing “post-Vietnam stress syndrome” (229).

Emmett announces the plan to go to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. He seems to have new energy and makes the decisions concerning their trip. Sam is too stunned to help.

At her mother’s house in Lexington, Sam tells her mother about Dwayne's letters and diary. Irene says she never read the diary because she did not want to remember that time. She tells Sam about the hippie she was in love with after Dwayne’s death. Sam gives her mother the cat she bought, and Irene is deeply touched.

The scene shifts back to the journey. While the group waits for the transmission on Sam’s car to be repaired, Sam goes to a shopping mall near the Holiday Inn where they are staying. Sam uses her mother’s Visa card to buy Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.