After high school Bean joins th Marines, finds himself in Vietnam. During th Tet Offensive he is hit by sniper fire on th banks of th Perfume River. A clean shot, recovers, waiting to go home. In a bar in Saigon a bomb explodes, blows shrapnel at waist level. They remove ten feet of intestine, attach a piece of gristle in place of his dick, can't do much about his testicles.
Bean goes back to Boston.
It is as if his father blames him for losing th family jewels. He has a brother that's got a college deferment, who is intact. During Desert Storm he is living in th sagebrush east of th base. Th shriek of F-15's taking off finally unhinges his mind. The biggest bombs now sit in place.