But back in 1967 — when Hannah’s main character Frankie McGrath goes to Vietnam as an Army nurse — did Stripes deliberately withhold casualty numbers and battle losses as the book implies?

Stripes used to be worn by social outcasts, such as prostitutes, jugglers, clowns and cripples. In his book The Devil’s Cloth: A History of Stripes, Michel Pastoureau recounts: “In 1310 ...