In this chapter, we see the point of view shift from an omniscient outside observer to the eyes of the author himself, Tim O'Brien. I'll be honest, this shift of perspective threw me for a second, and I couldn't quite immediately grasp exactly to whom the "I" referred. Perhaps I was simply blinded by my view of Lt. Cross as the protagonist; however, from this point on, this is clearly O'Brien's story, not Cross's. Still, I think that Cross's very presence in this chapter helps ease this shift along, and makes it fairly clear that though Cross was king of the previous chapter, the story is really all about O'Brien, his personal views of the war, and the people he knew.
Another thing worth mentioning is that Cross appears to still be humping his feelings for Martha. tsk tsk. IMHO, he should probably find himself another lady to obsess over. One thing about the little Martha-Cross anecdote that I didn't quite get though was what she meant by "the things men do" (p. 28). Theory number one is that she got raped, although that's about as bluntly as one can interpret that quote. Theory number two is that she knows lots of guys with knee fetishes, which is significantly more ridiculous, but also...feasible, I suppose.
This is Captain Falcon performing a rising knee. It also includes a bad knee-related pun.
