Extended Military Engagement In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

This was important for me because this event overshadowed my life from an early age until my teenage years. America’s participation in the Vietnam War was an extension of the Cold War. Since America said we would fight against communism, we did. We lost approximately 60,000 service men; some are still missing in action. In the end, it served no purpose, South Vietnam lost and became a part of the communist north. Many soldiers came back with PTSD and at that time they did not have a name or real treatment, for this disorder. Many Vietnam veterans suffered many side effects from the war, angent organge and other effects of weaponary. Today, we have in comparaion massive amounts of positive propaganda for military, nevertheless, in this war, verterns were treated poorly ,especially by the public. The collateral consequences of this war effected many families. Today, I know many people and families ,who have not recovered completely from this war

He was in charge of seventeen men, which one had died at the cost of him daydreaming about Martha, unaware of his surroundings; being the lieutenant he had carried responsibility. Responsibility symbolizes the growth in each character; but his resistance to responsibility is due to lack of his independence. The constant desire for Martha’s love is just an example of him not wanting the responsibility; therefore, Jimmy Cross is unable to reach his full potential as a leader. Another intangible thing “Jimmy Cross humped his love for Martha up the hills and through the swamps.” Unknowing whether or not she told the truth about her being a virgin; the uncertainty that is why it was so sweet to him; the symbolism of the love of Martha is his connection to his life outside the war, the one he never wanted to leave. His love for her is not guaranteed but it is okay because as humans we need something to fight for and to Cross it was the hope that one day Martha might chose to be with him. The weight on his shoulders was not only literal but also metaphorical because thoughts are just as heavy as the tangibles.

Obviously, in the story, Cross hides his fantasy ‘’Martha’’ and does not talk about his girl with any fellow soldiers. However, he spends much time to determine whether Martha is virgin or not. Furthermore, he tries to make it clear about whether Martha loves him or not. Because of this kind of uncertainty, ‘’his mind wanders’’ and ‘’he had difficulty keeping his attention on the war’’ (473). However, at that moment, he still does not show his uncertainty to his fellow soldiers. He thinks about ‘’Martha’’ and his uncertain love so many times that ‘’he does not care about his men’’ (477). As a consequence, his platoon moves as ‘’mules’’ (477) and easily gets exhausted. He does not think about the nervous war situation and talk about his plans of war to his fellow soldiers. Due to lack of communication, Cross does not organize the platoon regularly and frequently and make a specific plan of war. His leadership is gradually worse during the war. Lastly, his fellow soldier Lavender dies early and

Going to war is scary and sometimes traumatizing. It can affect men and woman for several of years afterwards, even until death. You cannot just erase what these men and woman have witnessed and been through. These brave souls have to carry the embarrassment, the shame, and the guilt with them forever. Going to war, and having to do all the horrific things soldiers do, can cause them to have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

1. STATEMENT OF RESEARCH QUESTION Throughout the years, the Vietnam War has lived up its name as “one of the most obscure episodes and, at the same time, one of the most serious conflicts not only of the Cold war period but also of the whole modern history” (Hodboďová, 2008). It was apparently the most long-lasting conflict in American history and most disfavored war that broke out after World War II and ended in 1975. The peculiarity of this war lies not only in its prolonged duration but also in an overriding number of war casualties, or in other words, the death and destruction to the country’s people. Averagely in the struggle, more than one million Vietnamese soldiers and over 58,000 Americans were killed, not to mention the massacre

Jimmy Cross was trying to become romantically involved with a college girl, Martha, that he loved so well. Unfortunately, she gave no indication of the same feelings towards him. His experiences at war were affected by this distraction. The primary items that Jimmy carried, in addition to letters from Martha, were objects that a platoon leader would need such as: maps, compass, and binoculars (Clugston, 2014, Ch. 5 p. 15). However, he valued a pebble that Martha had given him much more. He even blamed the death of Ted Lavender on himself as he should have been more focused on doing his job. The setting and point of view contributed to understanding Jimmy’s situation as he had ample amount of time to reflect while resting from the battles of war, and even indicating what his mind focused on while on the battlefield. Although this short story was not presented in the first person of Jimmy, the writer offered his thought process

The Things They Carried is a war novel telling the story as well as the inner world of a group of soldiers during and after the Vietnam War. This is also a war novel, it is not bloody and violent. There are no heroism, scenes of slaughter, or senses of torture in this story. However, while I‘m immersed in the author’s story, i find that Norman Bowker was suffering from the pain of unable to speak about the horrors of war. Norman drives around the lake so many times, he has no capacity to talk about his war story with any others, miserably commits suicide in the end.Telling out the story about war experiences is one of therapy to help traumatic because a traumatic can be cured through language, making it possible to avoid feelings of helplessness.

The Vietnam war started in 1954 to 1975. During this war, the Vietnamese Soldiers invaded a few towns in Laos. Some of these towns they invaded were towns my parents lived as kids. They grew up in different towns and refugee camps, but they went through similar journeys to get to America. As kids they ran miles across the jungle with their families to get to the Mekong River. Running through the jungle to get to the river took days. These days were the worst because there were no food to eat on this long walk. A lot of Hmong families who ran away from the Vietnamese soldiers didn’t make it far, or they died of starvation. My parents and their families were fortunate enough to had made it safely to the Mekong river without any harm done to

The Vietnam War is an event in history that resonates through time way past the period of its actual occurrence. Aside from being the only war that the United States has ever lost, the Vietnam War resulted in around 58,000 American deaths, 3 to 4 million Vietnamese deaths, hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars spent, and a nation divided over its purpose and worth. Although the effects of the Vietnam War may not be a common or pressing topic in current times, the Americans who were involved in the war effort are still constantly reminded of its impact. Joseph Orsini, a retired veteran who served in the Air Force during the time of Vietnam, is one of these Americans. Through discussing his experiences in Vietnam, Joseph expressed the challenges that he faced both while abroad and after returning home to the U.S. Although it is not possible to generalize all Vietnam veterans’ encounters of the war with those of Joseph’s, his narrative not only breathes life into the typical facts seen in history books, but also provides tremendous insight into how the war was shaped by the daily danger presented by the Viet Cong, the surprise attacks of the Tet offensive, and the opposition raised by Americans back home.

Lieutenant Cross uses Martha as an escape from the reality of the war. Lieutenant Cross fantasizes about romantic trips with Martha to beautiful places as he trudged through swamps and forests. In, the evening Cross reads letters from Martha and contemplates her feelings for him. The thought of Martha is so prevalent in Lieutenant Cross’s head, the war is hardly mentioned in the first few pages of the story. Even when Ted Lavender dies, it only takes up one sentence, before transitioning back to Martha. Even though she fills him with doubt, worry, love and longing; Lieutenant Cross would rather focus on Martha than the possibility of death. Martha is representative of the emotional baggage soldiers carry, “To carry something was to hump it, as when Lieutenant Jimmy Cross humped his love for Marth up the hills and through the swamps” (O’Brien 5). O’Brien, is showing readers that Lieutenant Cross is not only carrying the weight of his gear, but also the weight of his love for Martha. His love for Martha weighs heavy on his heart, and his thoughts about her seems to become an obsession. @

The Vietnam War (1954-1975) was one of the most publicized wars of all time and was what they called the first “television war.” It was a prolonged conflict that eroded the communist government of North Vietnam and its allies in South Vietnam, known as the Viet Cong, against the government of South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States (Britannica). This war lasted nearly 20 years and was by no means a cheap or peaceful war, more than 3 million people, including 58,000 American soldiers, were killed which lead to the U.S. forces withdrawing in 1973. The war was costing the U.S. some $25 billion per year (History). Veterans were highly mistreated when they returned from the war.

The Vietnam War caused a spike in American deaths in the 1960’s. Even more Vietnamese citizens died due to United States troops. Children in South Vietnam wandered the streets as they yell for their dead parents. Soldiers lose their sanity over seas and kill there own United States soldiers. Even though the government told citizens the war would be over soon, the war seemed like a never ending battle full of ruthless killings and long suffering deaths.

The Vietnam War was one of the longest conflicts in the Southeast Asia reigon. It started after World War II in 1954 and didn’t end until April 30th, 1975. This war killed over 200,000 Vietnamese and over 58,000 American soldiers in the war; on top of that, the lives of over two million civilians who were innocent people. This war became known as “America’s longest war” – that supposedly helped with the control of communism during the Cold War years. For nineteen years though, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) fought against the American-Supported Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). This war didn’t end until 1973 when the United States withdrew its troops and then two years later after; South Vietnam surrendered to the North.

The Vietnam War was a civil war of mass destruction, leaving Vietnam belligerently divided and claiming the lives of millions of Vietnamese civilians as well as American soldiers. It was a war with many untold stories, with no official starting point or glorious ending. Combatants on both sides faced numerous physical challenges such as climate, terrain and wildlife of the country. In addition, there was no formality, no clear combat zone to advance, no safe region to defend, or base to retreat. Territory changed hands frequently and people often moved freely with their political loyalties. It was an ambiguous and vague struggle between a powerful conventional military force and a guerrilla force that operated in the shadows. With the Vietcong fighting in such an unexpected and deceptive way, American soldiers often encountered

The Vietnam period was when my father’s World War 1 tales and dissections of World War 2 actions became most alive to me. The