"The Cage" by Tom Abraham Trivia Quiz

Answer: Driving while intoxicated

Tom starts by describing the events that happen to him which causes his emotional breakdown. After drinking a bottle of wine for lunch he drives his car over a large pothole in the road puncturing two of his tyres. A police vehicle appears and the officer smells alcohol on Tom's breath and asks him to blow into the breathalyser bag. Tom fails the test and is arrested.

Answer: They handcuff him and put him in a dog cage

Tom is arrested and awaits a police van to transport him to the police station. However, one of the officers from the van becomes belligerent with Tom, pushes up against the police van and handcuffs him. Confused by this officer's enmity towards him Tom headbutts the van whereupon the officer drags Tom to the rear of the van and forces Tom into the cage normally meant for a police dog. Tom begins to regress back to his memories of his tour of duty in Vietnam and becomes irrational.

Answer: His older brother Rick commits suicide

His older brother Rick, whom Tom hero worships, commits suicide by hanging himself from a tree in the back garden. Tom tries to save Rick by cutting him down from the tree and doing CPR on him but to no avail. After this event Tom starts "acting out" in school.

Answer: Yorkshire

During his time in the American army Tom is often ridiculed because of his English accent.

Answer: His father was offered employment there

Tom's father was offered employment running a brick manufacturing company. Tom's mother had grown up in America but that was not the reason why Tom and his family moved to the USA.

Answer: York, Pennsylvania

Tom is astonished by the size and variety on offer when he reaches York. He soon fits in and becomes a typical American teenager.

Answer: He flunks college

After flunking out of college Tom enlists into the army. He is carrying his draft papers but they are unopened because he has been told that if he does not open the papers and enlists instead of being drafted he has a chance of being selected for officer training.

Answer: Fort Jackson, South Carolina

Tom is mildly surprised by the friendly welcome waiting for him at the fort. Induction into the army is where your hair is shorn off, to reduce the chance of flea, lice or ringworm infection. Also this is where the medical examinations take place and all inoculations are given. After the induction period the inductees are moved onto the centre where they will get Basic Training.

Answer: Fort Gordon, Georgia

Fort Gordon was a rude awakening for Tom. Spat at and abused by the drill sergeants, he is immediately singled out because of his English accent. At one point he is forced to write a letter to the Queen of England asking her to write a note to Tom's drill sergeant.

Answer: For Officer Candidate School

Technically Tom should never have been selected for OCS because he was a British citizen, carrying a British passport, and only American citizens can apply for and be selected to train to become an officer within the American army.

Answer: Mauretania

It is only when Tom decides to take vacation in the UK that he remembers how he and his family arrived in the U.S. Anyone who picked Titanic, which sank in 1912, shame on you.

Answer: Review the parade

On seeing Tom in his Lieutenant's uniform the Corps Commander, Major Sutterly, asked Tom to review his troops. The Major was astounded to see Tom in a military uniform because would have nothing to do with Cadet Force when he attended the school in his youth.

Answer: Dusty Springfield

Dusty Springfield, for those of you who have never heard of her, was a major singing star and icon in Britain in the sixties.

Answer: Bien Hoa

As a green Lieutenant this is the first time Tom witnesses the might of the U.S. Army as he sees all the military aircraft and munitions within the airbase.
If you picked Hanoi, this is the capital city of North Vietnam.

Answer: There is no front line!

Due to the tactics of the North Vietnamese there is no front line, or rather, everywhere is a front line. With a 1500 km border South Vietnam could not guarantee protection to any unit in the country, as the Tet offensive was to prove.

Answer: Punji sticks

Bouncing Bettys and landmines were indeed shown to Tom and the others but it was the punji sticks that the Sergeant showed to them with great relish. The Vietminh dug pit holes and filled them with sharpened punji sticks which were covered in human faeces.

When a person fell into the trap the sticks would pierce the legs of the unwary soldier and the faeces on the sticks would cause maximum infection.

Answer: Perimeter line

The Green Line is the perimeter of the Army base made up of barbed wire, bunkers and landmines. Beyond that, Tom is told, "is Charley's domain."

Answer: Landing zone

LZ stands for Landing Zone. On day 11 Tom is transferred to LZ English, which he considers ironic, 50 kms from Long Bien. Here he is given a platoon to command and is taken to LZ Sandra to meet them.

Answer: 32

There are 32 men in Tom's platoon. They are not happy to see this inexperienced officer, fearing that he is a "gung ho" type.

Answer: White phosphorus grenade

Tom uses a "Willie Peter" to destroy a punji trap on his first ever patrol in enemy territory.

Answer: Salute him

Do not salute an officer "in country". The enemy will quickly identify and target those who are saluted and try to eliminate them. In the Vietnam war you could not take photographs with a phone, they hadn't been invented yet.

Answer: The number of days left until you are rotated back home

Most of the soldiers were there for a year's tour of duty. Quickly they learned to count the days until their tour ended.

Answer: Having a sweet tooth

Because of their sugar fixation some young soldiers would detour into a sugar cane field and cut a cane stem to suck on. Upon seeing this the V.C. started to lay traps in the cane fields for the unwary G.I. The other weaknesses are, of course, absurd due to the stringent basic training the soldiers would have received.

Answer: Government Issue

GI stands for Government Issue since pretty much everything that a soldier has is given to him by the army, except for those personal items he brought/bought with him into the army. The other choices I just made up.

Answer: Vietnamese holding place

Tom is captured by the Vietnamese and held in a bamboo cage naked. The cage is placed at the edge of a lake and lowered until Tom has to stretch his neck to breathe above water. Also Tom is prey to water rats and leeches while he is suspended in the cage. Tom finally escapes this ordeal and manages to reach safety in the form of an American patrol. Years later Tom has to come to terms with this traumatic ordeal, that up until then he has submerged in his sub-conscious, in an effort to repair his failing marriage.

It is his coming to terms with his time in Vietnam which finally brings some peace to his shattered life.