Sticking him with the detail because he's "the new guy" is what it was.
@Partially true. He was a "new guy",as well as a Private E-2 when he got there. There are few creatures in the world with fewer "rights" than a E-2 in the military. E-2's have no experience doing anything,and have zero experience,so it is natural that they always get the "Bush Jobs".
The fact that he came from a very rural area and was pretty much ignorant of the world as well as being painfully shy didn't help his cause.
If he had of had any experience in the army,he would have immediately started screwing up everything he touched in order to force them into giving him a different job. After all,what the hell did a draftee E-2 in VN have to lose? The most they could do would be to send him back to the US and kick him out of the army,and he never wanted to be in the army to start with.
IIRC,his nightmares were related to him worrying about putting the wrong body parts in the body bag with the body. One HELL of a thing for an innocent 18 year old to have to deal with that had never left his mama before being drafted.