The Vietnam Soldier In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

Based on both Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried and the interviews of Vietnam veterans, being a soldier in Vietnam means to sacrifice your views on war for your county. This is explored both O’Brien’s book, as well as in the interview of Vietnam veteran, Charles G. Richardson. O’Brien was always against the war; he felt that as he identified as a liberal, he should not have been in Vietnam. Richardson, however, had an interesting take on this. “I don’t like war; none of us do. But, I do enjoy my freedom. And without the sacrifices that we have to make, I do not feel that we would enjoy the freedom that we have today,” (Richardson). This quote is a great example of showing a man who was a true patriot and Vietnam soldier, despite disliking

For instance, in one particularly moving part of the book, he talks about how mentally unstable he was after he killed someone. O’Brien could not stop thinking about the man he killed, he even started to make up a backstory for the dead man. “He had been born, maybe, in 1946 in the village of My Khe near the central coastline of Quang Ngai province where his parents farmed… many neighbors had joined in the struggle for independence,” (119). When his fellow platoon member, Kiowa, tried to his best to comfort him, it was ineffective as O’Brien remained silent the entire time. This is significant because this is one of many examples where O’Brien had been mentally scarred by the experience. Since O’Brien has suffered so much mental damage, like this, from doing his duties as a Vietnam soldier, it would be unfair to discredit him, just because he was against the

Although Tim O’Brien was against the war, he was still there to support his the other soldiers. One example of this was how after Kiowa was killed, the rest of the platoon paid respect to him. “The men stood quietly for a few seconds. There was a feeling of awe. Mitchell Sanders finally nodded and said, ‘Let’s get it done’, and they took hold of the legs and pulled up hard, then pulled again, and after a moment, Kiowa cam sliding to the surface,” (167). The fact that they took a moment of silence as they stared at Kiowa’s dead body showed how strong of a unit their platoon was. This is significant because it shows how O’Brien was a true Vietnam soldier: he was always engaged with what was happening with his fellow platoon members. Another example of this was Clarence Sasser, who was a medical aid in the war. Sasser would always continue to help out all his wounded men, even when he was wounded himself. In regards to receiving a medal of honor for his service, he said, “Well, it’s my job. I didn’t think what I did was above and beyond. I never have,” (Sasser). This shows how being a Vietnam soldier meant to always be there for your