The Five People You Meet In Heaven

Eddie finds himself near a familiar village. He finds a helmet, rifle, and dog tags that upset him when he sees his name on them. Eddie was working at Ruby Pier, saving money to study engineering, when the war began. Eddie enlisted quickly, practicing his shooting skills at the arcade at Ruby Pier. Mickey Shea warned him war wasn’t a game, but he thought Mickey was just a drunk.

The second person Eddie meets in heaven is his captain from World War II. They fought together in the Philippines where Eddie’s troop, including the captain, was taken prisoner by four Filipino guards. Eddie, the captain, and three other soldiers were held in a bunker and forced to work in a coal mine all day. One of the soldiers became ill and one of the guards shot him. After six months, the captain started to plan an escape. One day, one of the guards came into the bunker and was juggling rocks. Eddie convinced him to allow Eddie to show him how to do it. The guard brought the other guards in to watch. Eddie used the rocks to create a distraction and then as a weapon to escape. The soldiers ran but decided to burn down the camp before leaving.

One of the soldiers gathers flame throwers from the armory and they begin to burn the buildings. Eddie believes he sees movement inside one of the buildings, but when he attempts to go save whoever it might be, one of his fellow soldiers pulls him back. Eddie fights his way free and approaches the building again when he is shot in the leg. The captain tells Eddie how the soldiers managed to get into a transport vehicle and drive out of there, getting Eddie to a hospital. He has two operations on his leg, but the bullet is never fully removed. The captain tells Eddie he was the one who shot him because he promised he would never leave one of his men behind. Eddie attacks the captain because he equates the bullet to his leg with the end of his life. The captain tells him that he believed Eddie had lost his mind from battle fatigue and he might have walked into the fire if he hadn’t shot him. Eddie then has a memory of fleeing the area in the transport vehicle. They had to stop when they approached a locked gate. The captain got out to open the gate and he walked forward, exploring the area for danger. He stepped on a landmine and died.

Marguerite joins Eddie and his family in a celebration of his birthday the day before he is to leave for boot camp. Afterward, Eddie and Marguerite go to Ruby Pier. They eat taffy and play at the arcade. Marguerite promises to wait for Eddie and asks him not to get killed.

The captain tells Eddie that “sacrifice is a part of life” (93). The captain says that if he hadn’t stepped on the landmine, they might have driven over it and all of them would have died. Despite the sacrifice, the captain says he benefitted by being able to keep his promise to get his men out alive. He says Eddie gained something too, something he will understand soon. Eddie asks if he saved Amy or Annie, but the captain says he can’t say. The captain disappears.

Three days after Eddie’s death, Dominquez goes to work and feels as though he and his coworkers are waiting for Eddie to come tell them what to do.