Exposing the Truth in Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong Essay

America is well known and hated across the globe for its involvement in foreign conflicts and affairs. The self proclaimed police of the world, America often goes too far when it comes to its involvement overseas. Many times the outcomes of these conflicts is overlooked and the effect it will have on america and other countries. Often times the American news media and politicians will claim that America 's goal is to bring freedom and liberty to other countries. However, this is a ploy to get the public on board and in reality war is used to make politicians and corporations richer. Tim O’Brien experienced this firsthand when he was shipped off to Vietnam in 1969. When he came back he finished his education at Harvard and was inspired to write a memoir about his experiences. “If I Die in a Combat Zone Box Me Up and Ship Me Home” tells his story as a foot soldier and the effects it had on himself and other soldiers physically, emotionally, and mentally. The books starts with O’Brien as a child playing war games and then moves to when he was drafted. In the bootcamp O’Brien had contemplated deserting but ultimately decided not to so that his family would not be disgraced. He was then sent off to Vietnam where he was placed in the Alpha company. O’Brien talks about things like his involvement in ambushes to his interactions with locals. With this piece O’Brien was trying to show the horrors of war and and how it affected the soldiers sent to fight in

To be engaged in war is to be engaged in an armed conflict. Death is an all too ordinary product of war. It is an unsolicited reward for many soldiers that are fighting for their country’s own fictitious freedom. For some of these men, the battlefield is a glimpse into hell, and for others, it is a means to heaven. Many people worry about what happens during war and what will become of their loved ones while they’re fighting, but few realize what happens to those soldiers once they come home. The short stories "Soldier's Home” by Ernest Hemingway and "Speaking of Courage” by Tim O'Brien explore the thematic after effects of war and how it impacts a young person's life. Young people who

In the short story, “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” by Tim O’Brien, the author shows that no matter what the circumstances were, the people that were exposed to the Vietnam War were affected greatly. A very young girl named Mary Anne Bell was brought by a boyfriend to the war in Vietnam. When she arrived she was a bubbly young girl, and after a few weeks, she was transformed into a hard, mean killer.

Wars are a difficult place to be. “THE VIETNAM WAR transformed a generation” (Roberts 1). With all that happened during the war such as exposure to

In If I die In a Combat Zone by Tim O’Brien, the author shows how the hatred of war can cause remorse and sadness through memories. He uses his experiences as a radio operator in Vietnam war to showcase the range of emotions he was feeling at the time. O’Brien shows this by using memories and his comrades to paint a picture on how the war in Vietnam affected him for the rest of his life. O’Brien shows how he felt about the war through memories. Even though he opposes the war he still finds himself unable to disconnect from it.

During the Revolutionary War, 2/3 of the soldiers fight died from diseases like Dysentery, Influenza, Typhon, ect. Many soldiers starved and some, marched barefoot. In many wars soldiers got killed by friendly fire even. Some soldiers saw so much on the battle field they went crazy, suffering mental scars that led to psychotic breaks which may eventually led to suicide. As most of you already know, many veterans don't come back from the war, but some do, and those that do are usually never the same as they were before. Many people have made jokes about war flashbacks and it is actually very serious, in fact, studies show that recent veterans have a very high suicide rate compared to those who has never served in the military. But let's not

The diagnosis of PTSD and those suffering from it have earned public compassion and understanding. Moral injury is not officially recognized by the Defense Department. But it is moral injury, not PTSD, which is progressively being acknowledged as the signature wound of this generation of veterans. Moral injury leaves a bruise on the soul, similar to grief or sorrow, with lasting impact on the veterans and their families. Moral injury raises unpleasant questions about what happens in war and the dreary experiences that many veterans are reluctant to talk about. It is not fear, but exposure, that causes moral injury. Any experience or set of experiences can provoke mild or intense grief, shame and guilt. The symptoms are similar to PTSD: depression and anxiety, difficulty paying attention, an unwillingness to trust anyone except fellow combat veterans, however the morally injured feel sorrow and regret as well. Moral injury wounds are caused by the conflict of the ethical beliefs they carried to war and the dangerous realities of conflict. Many have found peace and acceptance: I did what I had to do, and I did it well and honorably. However, others struggle to reconcile with themselves who proudly enlisted just years before. Either way, they manage mostly out of sight and on their

Tim O’Brien has shown repeatedly in this story that grief is the one thing that is the hardest to carry for any person. It stays with you and will sometimes cause you even more grief. This story shines a very bright light on what was happening to the soldier when they are not in combat, and how their very emotions can eat away with them. “It was very sad, he thought. The things men carried inside. The things men did or felt they had to do” (482), you can see through these final thoughts of Jimmy’s that he truly thinks that there is no way for any of them to let go of the emotions that they must carry every

The statistics say that 22 veterans will take their own life every day. Most of the time, it does not sink in until it happens to someone you know. As a DVOP, Mr. Coon was working with an Army veteran that was in the VRAP program. Once this veteran session was completed, Mr. Coon needed to help the next veteran in line. The veteran stood with a lost look on his face. Mr. Coon can still remember the clothes the veteran was wearing that day as he departed. As an NCO in the US Military, Mr. Coon felt he had failed that soldier. Three days later that veteran had killed himself.

In Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong, Tim O'Brien gives a dynamic example of how even the deep roots of ones culture can be modified. The focus is on the young lady, whose boyfriend manages to have her shipped over to Vietnam from the U.S. She is then thrown into a completely foreign culture that thousands of American GI's were experiencing. This change in culture affected the strongest and most skilled of America's ground troops. The affects on a civilian are almost unfathomable.

Section 1: I think one of the main reasons why the My Lai Massacre occurred was due to conformity. Conforming to a group of norm is powerful when it comes to ambiguous and confusing situations as what happened at My Lai. The soldiers were instructed to kill everyone in sight, whether they were old people, children, babies, or animals. The soldiers followed orders because they felt obligated to obey an authoritative figure who had power over them. The soldiers at My Lai were influenced by other soldiers who were given the same brutal task.

On the morning of March 16th the company moved in. They were instructed by Lieutenant William Calley to shoot every living thing in sight, from animals to babies, for the animals would feed the Vietcong and the babies would one day grow up to be them. From many soldiers’ accounts, non-of the people shot that day seemed to pose any threat to the American soldiers. In fact, women, children and old men made up a huge majority of the victims. Barely any weapons were found and according to most of the soldiers the Vietnamese people were trying to cooperate but there was the barrier of language. When the soldiers yelled things in Vietnamese they weren’t even sure if they were saying the right thing because Vietnamese is a language based on inflection in the voice. LT Calley ordered his soldiers to kill all of the Vietnamese in massive slaughters. They were herded into big groups, and some groups were forced into ditches and then fired upon. “The few that survived did so because the were covered by the bodies of those less fortunate.” (Linder) After the massacre was over there was an extensive cover-up, the commanders even reported My Lai as a success with 123 enemy deaths and some weapon recoveries. It wasn’t until a man named Ronald Ridenhour,

“When I was in serious danger I was almost completely paralysed by fear, I remember sitting with a coffin (a fellow soldier) on the fire-step of a trench during an intense bombardment, when it seemed certain that we must be killed”(The Psychological Effects Of The Vietnam War). Our soldiers that we send to war to protect us against the countries trying to harm us are put into dangerous situations that affect them physically and mentally and leave them with permanent damage to their minds and bodies. The server damage that our military soldiers faced when returning from war is PTSD which stands for post traumatic stress disorder and is the most common disorder that returning soldiers are diagnosed with , but a more tragic diagnosis from war

After always questioning whether they should be the one who is dead, depression and PTSD develops, causing emotional pain for the rest of their life. The emotional state of many soldiers are influenced by the environment they are around. Grieving for the general, one of them kneels by his side and starts to “[... hold] the dead hand in his own and looking intently into the dead face, and never uttered a sound all the time he sat there” (Pyle 2). Soldiers are forced to cope with the fact that many of their friends are

Each story personally invites the reader into the lives of veterans and their families struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), depression, anxiety, grief, suicide, and other unseen disabilities. If we do not get ahead of these mental issues as leaders the suicide rate will continue to climb. As stated by Bouvard, “Our returning troops have earned our gratitude and our respect” (Bouvard,