The Phantom Blooper
First edition hardback cover
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| Author | Gustav Hasford |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Autobiographical, War novel |
| Publisher | Bantam Dell |
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Publication date
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Feb 1990 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 20352730 |
| 813/.54 20 | |
| LC Class | PS3558.A7233 P45 1990 |
| Preceded by | The Short-Timers |
The Phantom Blooper is a 1990 novel written by Gustav Hasford and the sequel to The Short-Timers (1979). It continues to follow James T. "Joker" Davis through his Vietnam odyssey. The book was supposed to be the second of a "Vietnam Trilogy", but Hasford died soon after completing it and before writing the third installment.
The novel begins sometime after The Short-Timers leaves off and is divided into three parts.
Having been demoted from Sergeant to Private, Joker is still at the Khe Sanh base, which is about to be abandoned by American Marines after withstanding a two-month siege. He believes most of his previous squad-mates are dead, even the seemingly indestructible Animal Mother. Joker blames their deaths on "The Phantom Blooper": an elusive enemy, supposedly American and armed with an M79 grenade launcher, who fights alongside the Viet Cong against his countrymen.
Joker is still haunted by the memory of his friend Cowboy, who had been wounded and whom Joker mercy-killed in order to keep their squad from being cut down by a sniper. As a result, Joker's behavior has become increasingly erratic and violent. He sets up one of his squad-mates to be killed in an attempt to draw the Phantom Blooper out of hiding, then forces an inattentive Marine on guard duty to hold a live hand grenade with the pin out. Later, as the Viet Cong attempt to overrun the base, Joker splits his platoon sergeant's tongue with a straight razor.
The Marines turn back the attack, suffering heavy losses in the process. The next night, Joker ventures out in search of the Phantom Blooper, but is wounded by friendly fire and captured by the enemy.
Joker has been living and working in a small Viet Cong village for over a year since his capture, waiting for a chance to escape. He has not been tortured or sent to a POW camp, and his captors have begun to trust him to some degree. In Joker's mind, his best chance is to fool them into believing he has converted to their cause, to accompany them on an attack against an American position, and then to make his escape when the shooting starts. As time passes, however, he begins to side increasingly with the Viet Cong, seeing them - the people he has been trained to kill - as ordinary human beings just like himself. When a team of Army soldiers arrives to rescue him, he is wounded in the ensuing firefight but manages to shoot down one of their choppers with a discarded M79 before passing out.
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