In Tim O"Brien's novel, If I Die in a Combat Zone, a unique, young man examined the Vietnam War. ... His thoughts after he was drafted lead the reader to believe that he was obligated and pressured to fight in the Vietnam War. ... The Vietnam War had been going on for some time, and a draft in Minnesota was something people did not look forward to. ... At the same time, he talked to the chaplain to try to find a reason why there was a war, and why the United States had to fight in Vietnam. ... He needed to get out of Vietnam. ...

• Word Count: 1388
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

Most general books and texts on the Vietnam War (including Moss' Vietnam, An American Ordeal, Fourth Edition) gloss over, if not skip entirely, the role of women in Vietnam. ... Unlike the men who served in the U.S. military during the war, all women in Vietnam were volunteers since they were not subject to the draft. In a war that became less and less popular as the years went by, American women still were motivated to join the effort in Vietnam. ... Some of these women traveled in and out of Vietnam at various intervals during the war, while others had a more permanent presence in th...

• Word Count: 2573
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

From the US viewpoint, it was thought that the War in Vietnam would be over and done with rather quickly. ... Rejection and exploitation of the Vietnam Veteran by the US caused the veterans to fight a different war, PTSD when they returned home. ... Many friendships were made during the Vietnam War and many sacrifices were made for friends, sometimes even the greatest sacrifice, death was made. ... One important fact about the Vietnam War was that it was America's first true integrated war. ... Even though over 58,000 Americans died in the Vietnam War there were approximately 600,000 ...

• Word Count: 4154
• Approx Pages: 17
• Grade Level: High School

Cook Reaction to Howard Zinn's Writing about Vietnam Zinn gives a complete overview of what happened. ... While reading this some of my thoughts of the entire Vietnam War changed. ... I think that one of the biggest problems our country had during the Vietnam War was the extreme lack of public support. ... They would rather go to jail then be put in the situations of the Vietnam War. ... If I was alive during the time of the Vietnam War I believe I would have been willing to go to war, until it got out of hand. ...

• Word Count: 686
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Usually all Hollywood films adopt two main approaches in depicting the Vietnam War. ... Another perspective on Vietnam War is given by Bubba. ... Jenny, though she is not taking part in the Vietnam War sequence, represents completely different opinion towards the war. ... The Vietnam War is just another event or period of time for him. ... So there are four views of Vietnam War for audience to choose from. ...

• Word Count: 738
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Reaction to Howard Zinn's Writing about Vietnam Zinn gives a complete overview of what happened. ... While reading this some of my thoughts of the entire Vietnam War changed. ... I think that one of the biggest problems our country had during the Vietnam War was the extreme lack of public support. ... They would rather go to jail then be put in the situations of the Vietnam War. ... If I was alive during the time of the Vietnam War I believe I would have been willing to go to war, until it got out of hand. ...

• Word Count: 683
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Both pieces depict young men as they lose their innocence in the Vietnam War facing the inhumane acts that comes along with war. ... Thus far, this is shown as the young men go into the Vietnam War sheltered and not really being revealed to immorality in the world. ... Although as the war persisted and Richie gets a real taste of war, he is faced with the inhumane acts that come along with war, such as the cruelty and senseless lives lost from both opposition of the VCs and the American soldiers. ... Whereas in "The Man I Killed" O'Brien narrates his experience in the Vietnam Wa...

• Word Count: 938
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography

Throughout the story O'Brien creates within the reader an understanding of the special effects of war on the soldiers who fight in Vietnam .The narrator moves further than the horror of fighting in the Vietnam War to examine with sympathy and insight the nature of courage and fear. ... By telling stories about the dead the American soldiers in the Vietnam War is trying to make death less real, as if they were alive. ... The characters in this story are at the first combatants in the Vietnam War, thus blinded by killing that soon starts to obscure any prior ideas held about what is moral...

• Word Count: 1752
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

THE THINGS THEY CARRIED (by Tim O'Brien) The Things They Carried is a collection of stories about the Vietnam War that the author, Tim O'Brien, uses to convey his experiences and feelings about the war. ... O'Brien captures the reader with graphic descriptions of the war that make one feel as if they were in Vietnam. ... To O'Brien the novel is not only a compilation of stories, but also a release of the fears, sadness, and anger that he has felt because of the Vietnam War. ... (O'Brien, 179) The soldiers feel that the only people they can talk to about the w...

• Word Count: 1324
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

THE THINGS THEY CARRIED (by Tim O'Brien) The Things They Carried is a collection of stories about the Vietnam War that the author, Tim O'Brien, uses to convey his experiences and feelings about the war. ... O'Brien captures the reader with graphic descriptions of the war that make one feel as if they were in Vietnam. ... To O'Brien the novel is not only a compilation of stories, but also a release of the fears, sadness, and anger that he has felt because of the Vietnam War. ... (O'Brien, 179) The soldiers feel that the only people they can talk to about the w...

• Word Count: 1324
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

He did not what lied ahead of him in the Vietnam Conflict, but he would soon find out. ... In the marines he became a lieutenant and was put in command of the second platoon in Vietnam. ... He decided that he would make the deal and he was sent home from Vietnam. ... Caputo's story of Vietnam tells us a lot about the confusion and turmoil our soldiers experienced in the war. ... The American experience in Vietnam was not a good one at all. ...

• Word Count: 880
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

In the era surrounding the Vietnam War there was a lot of controversy about African Americans. Both locally and in the war. During this time, African Americans were separated in their opinions of the war. ... Another base of desire for blacks to join the war effort in Vietnam was that they were, for the first time, treated as equals. ... Of course not all African Americans were eager to go to war. ...

• Word Count: 521
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

They're are many difficulties that men in the Vietnam War face, but not only does it exhaust ones physical state, but also it mentally affects these men. ... " The setting of the story "The Things They Carried", is one of the elements that prove that the Vietnam War can be mentally challenging. The story takes place during the Vietnam War in the late 1860's (O'Brien 637). ... The challenging terrain of the Vietnam War is just one of the many difficulties they face. ... This shows his devotion to God and how he relies on God to keep him safe through the tough tim...

• Word Count: 1337
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

"The Things they carried-, the renowned author, Tim O'Brien, uses several literary devices to show the spiritual burden on the soldiers in the Vietnam War, by contrasting this burden with the actual physical load they have to carry. ... The Vietnam war was no doubt a very cruel war, and the GI's who came back home were seriously wounded, not physically, but their soul has been maimed forever, because there are some things the human psyche simply cannot deal with, and the "Jungle Experience- was one of those. Tim O'Brien's-The Things They Carried Eating Them Away F...

• Word Count: 1574
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

The name "Warrior Angels" was given by Lieutenant Carroll to American soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War. ... This book showed me that the Vietnam War was a horrible and questionable war. ... This book showed me what the Vietnam War could do to a person. ... The Vietnam War screwed up soldiers" heads and it was not even for a worthwhile cause. ... The Vietnam War should never have even occurred. ...

• Word Count: 994
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Seneca, a Roman philosopher and dramatist, expresses that "Worse than war is the fear of war." ... In the Vietnam War, many young men were forced to leave their wives and families to fight for a questionable cause. ... Another burning question that is on everyone's mind concerns the purpose of the Vietnam War--why are the soldiers even there? They march "without purpose" (80) and wrestle with the "ambiguities of Vietnam" (81). This uncertainty of why the soldiers are in Vietnam causes feelings of doubt in their sense of well-being. ...

• Word Count: 1146
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Others felt that the war in Vietnam was unjust. ... This is the first war that America did not win and many felt ashamed of what we did to the people of Vietnam. ... The government lied to the American people about Vietnam. ... Vietnam has made the public question our leaders. ... Another consequence of Vietnam is the draft. ...

• Word Count: 855
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Mia Lynn confronted this exact challenge when she entered a contest to design the Vietnam Veteran Memorial. ... Non-representational art such as Mia Lynn's Vietnam Veteran Memorial, is not straightforward and too the point. ... Looking at a statue of a soldier or an American flag, you think patriotism, war but to view a slab of granite disappearing into the earth, you must put yourself in the place of a Vietnam soldier and decipher why this memorial symbolizes Vietnam, abstract but effective. ... Without that extra thought that the audience goes through, it represents every war, every s...

• Word Count: 300
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The Vietnam war drastically altered the soldier's American Dreams due to the great abundance of evil which was celebrated throughout the war. The novel The Things they Carried, the movie "Platoon," as well as an actual story from a Vietnam Veteran each, in their own ways, allude to the powerful ability that the Vietnam war possessed to change a soldier's thoughts on life. "How to Tell a True War Story," is an indictment of the war as an honorable pursuit but naturally far from honorable. O'Brien states that "A true war story is never moral. ... This rather lengthy quote is expre...

• Word Count: 366
• Approx Pages: 1

Vietnam, the heart and soul of teenage rebellion to the government for creating a draft that sent over the creative and intelligent youth, was a war that deemed to get rid of the political idea, communism, which spread as quick as the napalm that blazed over the serene green landscapes. ... The soldiers carried loneliness, uncertainty of the truth of war, and the heavy burden of physical and emotion weight; Tim O'Brien uses war related imagery to symbolize the vim of storytelling in his book "The Things They Carried". ... Cross and Martha were both a prime example of the diffi...

• Word Count: 1571
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

In "The Things They Carried", Tim O"Brien wrote about the feelings and experiences of young soldiers in the Vietnam War. ... These tangibles greatly weigh down the soldiers, which in turn makes the Vietnam War even more difficult physically to endure. ... This shows how uneasy he is on the Vietnam battlefield, and O"Brien uses him as a tool to show the way that most of the young men feel in this time. ... War is always physically draining, Vietnam being described as one of the most miserable. ... If a person is unaffected by killing, they war would be more easily bearable for him. ...

• Word Count: 1097
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo was an interesting story about one man's reflection upon and story of the Vietnam War. ... I chose it because I knew little of the Vietnam War, and thought it would be educational yet interesting for me to read. I also choose it because it was actually written by someone who was in the war. ... In the beginning of the book I could not quite understand his thirst for war and fighting. ... It gave me a better understanding not only of the Vietnam War, but also of the events that take place during a war, and the feelings and actions the soldiers" experience....

• Word Count: 736
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Sun Tzu stated; "The art of war is of vital importance to the State. ... Many people began to worry if the Presidential office would reinstate the draft as did for the Vietnam War. ... It would fulfill the need of a nation military with sufficient numbers of recruits before, during, and after a time of war. Without this we run the risk of losing much more than just a war. ... I disagree with this fact, because all though technology has made vast advancements from what it was during the Vietnam War, you can never replace a pilots' or soldiers' intuition. ...

• Word Count: 1002
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Children are used illegally and shouldn't have to experience war at such an early age. ... War ruins lives and bodies. ... Such acts of cruelty have been witnessed many times in Vietnam's War, in 1961, by, not the "Vietcong" but by the "supposed" patriotic Americans. They pilfered the villages, raped women AND children and, on top of THAT, they would go around Vietnam and murder innocent children for fear that they were spies. ... "More obedient, they do not question authority, and are easier to manipulate " were the words of a commanding officer in Vietnam. ...

• Word Count: 1290
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Tim O"Brien Tim O"Brien's novel If I Die in a Combat Zone (1970) is a personal document of the war in Vietnam, and his own emotions and feeling towards war. O"Brien found his inspiration through everyday activities of a soldier in the Vietnam War. The Things They Carried (1990) was also about the Vietnam War. ... Clearly, the Vietnam War changed many lives. ... The Vietnam War brought out certain emotions that only war could bring about. ...

• Word Count: 1543
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School