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One response was to "call [death] by other names (21)." "If it isn't human, it doesn't matter much if it's dead . . . a VC nurse, fired by napalm, was a crisp critter. A Vietnamese baby, which lay nearby, was a roasted peanut (238-239)." This detachment made death easier to handle. Furthering the illusion that the dead were not really people, the men would interact with the corpses on a very dehumanizing level. For example, there was a corpse of an old man in a small town. "Dave Jensen went over and shook the old man's hand" and said "How-dee-doo (226)." " One by one the others did too (226)." They all shook the corpse's hand, except O'Brien. O'Brien did not touch the body because for him death was still real. He admits it was "Way too real (226)." He had not yet acquired the survival technique of distancing one's self from the reality of
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War was death. "There were a million ways to die. Booby traps and land mines and gangrene and shock and polio from a VC virus (197)." The solders "carried the emotional baggage of men who might die" at any moment (21). "Ted Lavender was shot in the head on his way back from peeing (12)." "The dead were everywhere . . . some in piles" that "proximity to death" changes a person (242, 81). The men needed to develop these coping skills of distancing and selective memory in order to remain sane. "When a man died, there had to be blame" and it was always everyone's fault, yet, no one could handle the soul responsibility (176-177). Often times you held someone's life in your own two hands and were forced to live with the blame if you let go (150). If you were unable to delude yourself as to the reality of death and your part in it, terrible emotional stress was the result. "Lieutenant Cross found himself trembling . . . He felt shame. He hated himself . . . he burned the two photographs" that distracted him, seemingly causing the mistake that killed his solder, he "couldn't burn the blame (16-23)." The guilt and responsibility would destroy the solders if they did not practice coping
War was death. "There were a million ways to die. Booby traps and land mines and gangrene and shock and polio from a VC virus (197)." The solders "carried the emotional baggage of men who might die" at any moment (21). "Ted Lavender was shot in the head on his way back from peeing (12)." "The dead were everywhere . . . some in piles" that "proximity to death" changes a person (242, 81). The men needed to develop these coping skills of distancing and selective memory in order to remain sane. "When a man died, there had to be blame" and it was always everyone's fault, yet, no one could handle the soul responsibility (176-177). Often times you held someone's life in your own two hands and were forced to live with the blame if you let go (150). If you were unable to delude yourself as to the reality of death and your part in it, terrible emotional stress was the result. "Lieutenant Cross found himself trembling . . . He felt shame. He hated himself . . . he burned the two photographs" that distracted him, seemingly causing the mistake that killed his solder, he "couldn't burn the blame (16-23)." The guilt and responsibility would destroy the solders if they did not practice coping