"The short-timers", by Gustav Hasford

James Davis is a young boy who has enrolled in the Marines to be trained for fighting in Vietnam. This novel is the story of his life as a soldier in one of the most (in)famous episodes in history. One of his first problems in the boot camp will be with Sgt Gerheim, who will nickname his as "Joker". This will be his war name during his war diaries which will tell us about Leonard, Cowboy, Snowflake and many more of his friends. After training, Joker will be sent as journalist to Vietnam and will take part in his first war action, where he will be wounded and his friend will obtain his first "confirmed kill". Joker will find again Cowboy, his great friend and will join to him in the hard life of Vietnam.

The Vietnam war took place in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and has been one of the most famous conflicts in Hollywood films. It began in 1955 and ended in 1975. Around 6 millions civilians died both in Vietnam and Cambodia and more of 50.000 U.S soldiers lost their lives in this part of South-Asia. The foundations of this conflict are in the interest of the U.S.A in avoiding Communism to extend in Asia. Because of that, Lyndon Johnson, the American president, decided to support the South-Vietnamese guerrillas who fought against NVA (North Vietnam Army).Although it seemed that Vietnam would be an easy-to-accomplish task, U.S.A lost the war and in April, the 30th 1975 the american embassador left the country

Gustav Hasford was an american writer who served in Vietnam as a war correspondant. Although he wrote some other books "The Short-timers" was his most famous novel as it was adapted by Stanley Kubrick in the film "Full Metal Jacket" (in Spain 'La chaqueta metálica'). The film was a great success and still today it has been claimed as one of the best war films in history. One of the most famous characters was Sgt Harman  who was actually a trainer in a Marines boot camp.