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"Or Kiowa teaching a rain dance to Rat Kiley and Dave Jensen, the tree of them whooping and leaping around barefoot while a bunch of villagers looked on with a mixture of fascination and giggly horror. Afterward, Rat said, "So where's the rain?" and Kiowa said, "The earth is slow, but the buffalo is patient," and Rat thought about it and said, "Yeah, but where's the rain?"" (O'Brien 36) (new version)

I think that this passage has a lot to say about the cultural differences between members of the same platoon. Kiowa tries to explain philosophically how although they did the rain dance, they may have to be patient and wait for the rain to come. Like the buffalo, they will have to rely on nature to provide for them eventually. Rat, the stereotypical white man in Kiowa's eyes, inpatient and ignorant of other cultures customs. This may be one of the reason Kiowa seems to still have some resentment for white men. Kiowa, is a stereotypical Native American in Rat's eyes, who dance around for rain and talk constantly about the buffalo. The three of them also get the attention of the natives. It is hard for them to laugh at the men, knowing how destructive they can possibly be. It must be terrifying to watch the men who, at any moment, could burn down your home dancing around like insane people. A strange mix of thoughts and emotions must have been going through their heads.