"After hearing Al Kroboth's story of his walk across Vietnam and his brutal imprisonment in the North, I found myself passing harrowing, remorseless judgment on myself. I had not turned out to be the man I had once envisioned myself to be. I thought I would be the kind of man that America could point to and say, 'There. That's the guy. That's the one who got it right. The whole package. The one I can depend on.'"

I believe this is the most important passage because he realizes why he should have protested the war when he returned from Vietnam. He regrets being an "American Coward" and wishes he could have been more heroic, like Al Kroboth. He went into the war thinking he'd be a real American that others could "depend on". But, when he returns he does not speak out about the injustices of the war and feels like a coward because of it. This quote is important because he finally understands and grasps the idea that he could have helped so many other soldiers by speaking out against the war, and could have stopped more wartime horrors and imprisonments like what happened to Al Kroboth. He comprehends his failure and gets real with himself and the reader, admitting his failure.