The book “If I die in a Combat Zone” written by Vietnam veteran Tim O’Brien walks the reader through the main stages that a normal individual has to go through from the day he is drafted until the day he comes home from the war. The author, who is also the protagonist of the story, explains how hard it was to be a soldier in the Vietnam war. He also focuses on the fact that some soldiers thought the war was wrong. In this memoir O’Brien gives the audience an overview of his thoughts during his journey in the military and also his direct experience in Vietnam. Through his story the author shows how hard it was to be a soldier during the Vietnam War. Enemies ambushes, mortar rounds and mines help paint the picture for the reader as they demonstrate
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But sometimes there were moments of peace and quiet for example, when O’Brien and the Alpha Company stayed in villages by the beach with friendly Vietnamese people. In some villages O’Brien and his comrades had good relationship with the locals and there we see the children bringing food to the soldiers. Although, even in those instances the soldier had to be aware of the possible attacks by the Viet Cong or as the author names them “ol’ Charlie”. When scouting through a village, soldiers needed to be extra careful because they had to watch for the booby traps the enemy planted as well as possible ambushes. Civilians were also considered a threat because they could have attacked as well, and in many cases the U.S. army was forced to kill many civilians because they supposedly pose a threat to them. In the book, O’Brien writes about the story of officer Callicles, who was involved in the killing of many civilians of the village of My Lai. These were atrocities that sadly occurred during the Vietnam war, soldiers killed children and women in some cases and this will be a source of pain and mental disorders. However, not all civilians were enemies, they helped the American soldiers and sometimes we helped them by offering medical …show more content…
Furthermore, it influenced the people at home and the families of the casualties. In this book, the author presents many examples of soldiers that either have guilt feelings or they cannot sleep. O’Brien writes about all the dead people that he encountered along his journey in Vietnam, and how in the military every casualty is just a number. All the killing and the unnecessary killing was justified by saying “This is war”. Death was part of everyday life when you are in battle and being a soldier you have to live with it on a regular basis. In some parts of the book O’Brien demonstrated the indifference that some soldiers towards death. A perfect example of this was the encounter with the dying nurse where one of the soldiers said “... she is pretty. It’s a crime. We could have shot an ugly old one instead”. This raises attention to another topic which is love as we see in during the entire book that the soldiers during the war never felt this feeling, because they were too emotionally invested in the war. The only interaction soldiers had with women was at the strip club or in the villages they were clearing
But sometimes there were moments of peace and quiet for example, when O’Brien and the Alpha Company stayed in villages by the beach with friendly Vietnamese people. In some villages O’Brien and his comrades had good relationship with the locals and there we see the children bringing food to the soldiers. Although, even in those instances the soldier had to be aware of the possible attacks by the Viet Cong or as the author names them “ol’ Charlie”. When scouting through a village, soldiers needed to be extra careful because they had to watch for the booby traps the enemy planted as well as possible ambushes. Civilians were also considered a threat because they could have attacked as well, and in many cases the U.S. army was forced to kill many civilians because they supposedly pose a threat to them. In the book, O’Brien writes about the story of officer Callicles, who was involved in the killing of many civilians of the village of My Lai. These were atrocities that sadly occurred during the Vietnam war, soldiers killed children and women in some cases and this will be a source of pain and mental disorders. However, not all civilians were enemies, they helped the American soldiers and sometimes we helped them by offering medical …show more content…
Furthermore, it influenced the people at home and the families of the casualties. In this book, the author presents many examples of soldiers that either have guilt feelings or they cannot sleep. O’Brien writes about all the dead people that he encountered along his journey in Vietnam, and how in the military every casualty is just a number. All the killing and the unnecessary killing was justified by saying “This is war”. Death was part of everyday life when you are in battle and being a soldier you have to live with it on a regular basis. In some parts of the book O’Brien demonstrated the indifference that some soldiers towards death. A perfect example of this was the encounter with the dying nurse where one of the soldiers said “... she is pretty. It’s a crime. We could have shot an ugly old one instead”. This raises attention to another topic which is love as we see in during the entire book that the soldiers during the war never felt this feeling, because they were too emotionally invested in the war. The only interaction soldiers had with women was at the strip club or in the villages they were clearing