O’Brien remembers that when Curt Lemon died he found it difficult to mourn, as he did not know him well. He remembers Lemon’s tendency to play the clichéd role of the macho soldier, deliberately taking unnecessary risks and bragging and embellishing them with untruths. O’Brien offers this story as a means for guarding against sentimentality over the dead: The unit of soldiers had been in an area that was relatively quiet, with no direct combat with the enemy and no casualties. An Army dentist visits the area to administer care to the unit. Though the dentist has only rudimentary facilities, Lemon is especially scared because of childhood experiences with dentists. He faints in the dentist’s tent before being examined. Others in the unit know about this because they help get him on a cot after the episode. Lemon keeps to himself but can not let what happened go unanswered. He complains about a toothache and has the dentist pull a tooth without finding a problem with it, which pleases him and helps him recover from his embarrassment.
