Dennis Brink Research Paper

2. “ The war sucks everything dry,” my father said solemnly, “it takes the young boys overseas, and their families move to California where there is work” (3.2).

In Kyle Longley’s, The Morenci Marines, nine young Morenci boys took the call to duty, not knowing that only three will return from the warzone of Vietnam. These boys, some Native American, Mexican American, and Caucasian, joined the fight in Vietnam despite their social, racial, and economic differences. Although the nine men are from a small mining town in Morenci, Arizona, the Vietnam War consisted of, in the words of Mike Cranford, “a lower middle class war,” fueled by small towns all around the United States (Longley, 246). Many of these men felt the call to battle and the will to fight, which had been engrained in their heritage and gave these men the right to be Americans. Aiding the war effort came from countless small American town

“Everybody get down!!!” He freezes for a second and then it suddenly strikes him--his heart beats almost out of his chest, and his hands are shaking uncontrollably; this is war. This is Vietnam, a cruel war between the Americans and Vietnamese that takes place in a jungle. War is undoubtedly frightening and may seem like the number one threat for the soldiers, but it is not; it is not remotely close. The true threat at a time of war, especially in a place such as Vietnam is isolation. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien illustrates the danger of isolation and why it is the greatest danger in Vietnam. Soldiers are aware that they are detached from society; this continuously haunts them, and as a result, they damage themselves emotionally.

For countless of people today, the Vietnam war is just something from the past, but for Tim O’Brien, the Vietnam War will endlessly be with him. This one year in Vietnam changes the lives of this platoon from emotional pain, physical pain, as well as muscle pain will commence to cloud their vision. The weight of the things that they carried takes great effect on them that they have to continue to endure on this one year trip in Vietnam and remember these memories for the rest of their lives..

In Tim O’Brien’s fictional narrative “On the Rainy River,” the narrator faces the dilemma of avoiding the draft or submitting and going to Vietnam, a common predicament that many men faced after receiving draft cards for the Vietnam War. O’Brien displays the thought process of the narrator as he makes a decision, and near the beginning, the narrator describes certain qualities that he believes make him “too good for [that] war”(2). He lists off achievements like “president of the student body” and “full-ride scholarship,” arguing for the idea that he is “above” going to war(O’Brien 2). Through explaining what the narrator believes to be superior traits, the reader might begin to ask, “What types of people actually went to the war?” If the narrator feels that he was above going to Vietnam, there must be some preconceived notion of who was expected to serve. After seeing how the narrator reacted to his call to battle, a question is left of whether the draft was fair in relation to social classes.

This chapter covers the transition of Mary Anne Bell, of how she changed from being a normal, sweet teenage girl to being one of the Green Berets, filled with enthusiasm for the war and intrigued with the culture of Vietnam. This message is about how the innocence of women is consumed by the war and how once they begin to learn more about it, they are hopelessly entranced by it, far from returning to their usual selves. Rat talks about how, “Anne made you think about those girls back home, how they'll never understand any of this, not in a billion years. Try and tell them about it, they’ll just stare at you with those big round candy eyes. They won't understand zip.”(O’Brien 108), and this shows that women won’t understand what Vietnam really is like, they have to experience it themselves. Women also won’t understand the grueling mental pain that soldiers experience in the war.

Throughout his childhood Logan (Tachnechdorus) attained advantageous values and social etiquette. One particular influential ally was a Quaker identified as James Logan who not only provided Tachnechdorus with his name but also educated him until he befriended the future war leader . However, it was after one unprovoked fatal incident involving other settlers that Logan, who once considered the white people as his allies, quickly changed his opinion of them. Hostility erupted within this once diplomatic, unbiased and compassionate man. Recognizing the conflict among the two cultures became the major cause of Logan to take vengeance.

Jan Platt was born in 1936 to Peter and Adele Kaminis. From the time she was young Platt was introduced to nature and her love for it only continued to grow. As a family, her parents and her sister, Bobbie Lou, spent their time fishing and swimming all over the Tampa Bay area. Platt attended Hillsborough High School where she excelled. She attended Florida State University where she was the president of the student senate the vice president of the student body. She graduated Pi Beta Kappa (oldest and most respected academic honors society in the United States.). Up until this point in her life one could say she had had it easily. She was met with her first true hardship when she enrolled as the only woman at the University of Florida Law School.

Uncertain of his future goals, seventeen-year-old Richie Perry, a black high school graduate from Harlem, travels to Vietnam to fight in the United States Army. When Richie leaves basic training for Vietnam, he harbors a host of illusions about the war and the army. He confidently believes that the medical profile he has received for a knee injury will be properly processed and prevent him from engaging in combat. He also believes in the flurry of rumors about imminent peace and in the prevalent romantic myths about warfare.

Reaching the age of 50, Dan has faced many obstacles in his life. One of the hardest things that he has faced was seeing his first born daughter born with a physical disability. It was something he never thought would happen to him. He and his wife spent many days in the hospital not knowing what was going to happen to his child. Dan ended up overcoming this, he says “with help from my family, my wife, and the Lord.”

The fear of the POW prison camps still lurks in Louie’s mind and every prisoner returning home. To sooth their war-torn minds and souls many veterans turned to alcohol for comfort;in fact, Louie was one of those who turned to alcohol to ease his mind. Drinking made Louie violent and full of rage and if life is going to get any better something had to change. Louie’s determination like a presidential race pushed him to overcome insurmountable obstacles and refused to admit defeat. One night Louie attended a sermon and something clicked in Louie reminding him of a promise he made to God:”If you will save me, I will serve you forever”(382). That night when Louie arrived home,”He carried the bottles to the kitchen sink, opened them, and poured their contents into the drain”(383), this was the beginning of the new and improved Louie. Later Louie created a camp to help young boys who’ve gone through the same experiences as him, such as getting into fist fights or creating trouble with the law. When Louie wasn’t with boys at camp he gave speeches of his experiences. As years passed Louie was still climbing, running, and taking on new activities like skateboarding: “‘When I get old,’ he said as he tossed a football on the Kwajalein beach,”’I’ll let you know’”(392). If Louie could stand he was moving. The determination Louie possessed to help others, do what he loved, and persevere through the hardships of if never escaped

Draftees made up one third of those who fought in Vietnam and a majority came fresh out of high school or college (“The Military Draft During the Vietnam War”). In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien makes soldiers morally ambiguous through childlike qualities to create empathy for their powerlessness in war. O’Brien communicates

“The Things They Carried,” written by Tim O’Brien, is a powerful short story regarding the Vietnam war. The author’s personal involvement with the army as an infantryman through the Vietnam war allows for the text to include realistic detail regarding a deployment. Although much of the story itself is simply describing what soldiers carried, relating back to the title, it also tells the story of Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, an officer, leading his men through marching from village to village. Through the story, Cross realizes what true leadership requires, but only after losing one of his men due to his lack of strong leadership. The text conveys that leadership is to lead others no matter the consequences and by disregarding love; O’Brien does this b y showing how love negatively impacted Cross, what possible consequences of strict leadership are, and the weight that a leader must carry.

Mark Fossie, one of the men in the camp, flies in his elementary school sweetheart, Mary Anne Bell, carried in by helicopter with a resupply shipment. When she arrived, she “seemed tired and somewhat lost, but she smiled”. Mary Anne wasn’t simply content and complacent, she seemed enthusiastic about being in Vietnam leaning new things and being with Mark. She arrived the same way as all the other men, bright-eyed and enthusiastic and she seemed especially eager and curious on learning new

Tim O’Brien tells the story of him and his platoon in Vietnam as well as a little about what each had experienced before and after the war. He tells each story in different way to elaborate on different things that happened around the same time. This complicated method emphasizes how he and each of his platoon member felt together while in Nam.It may jump from tale to tale in the stroy, but it has a clear message. In the story The Things They Carried O’Brien explains in different ways about being away from home can cause dramatic changes to someone in an alienating or a beneficial way.