“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is an excerpt of a story that takes place during the Vietnam War and focuses on the personal lives of the men involved in the controversial war during the 1960’s. It is a story about soldiers in the Vietnam War and the burdens and thoughts that they carry with them during battle. At first reading, one might condemn the soldiers for not being focused on the task at hand and for letting their minds wander. However, these men’s preoccupations can be better understood if the reader understands the context of the history behind the Vietnam War, how a draft was instituted to help fight the war, and how much controversy surrounded the United States’ involvement in the war. Also, the reader can better understand the story by having some background information on American culture at the time, specifically the culture as it pertained to the war. American culture during this time period and the historical context of the Vietnam War as it relates to American culture can both help the reader better understand what was going through the young soldiers’ minds, and why their minds were wandering away from battle.

The war in Vietnam began as a war between communist North Vietnam and the Government of South Vietnam. The United States was fresh off victory in World War II and nationalism was at an all-time high. The United States wanted to protect and spread democracy, and because of this feeling the U.S. entered the Vietnam War on March 8, 1965 in order to assist South Vietnam fight North Vietnam. As Jayanta Kumar Ray asserts about the United States becoming involved in the Vietnam War in her article entitled “United States and The Vietnam War”, “It has its roots in a collusion between the private and the public bureaucracy in America, which promotes foreign military intervention in order to preserve external markets and internal arms industry”. (Ray 231) This decision by the United States’ government to involve itself in the Vietnam War was met with much controversy from the people of the United States. Many Americans felt that the U.S. did not have the right to step into a foreign conflict that the country had no part of in the first place. The U.S. defended their actions under the premise that they were protecting democracy across the world. To make it even more controversial, the United States instituted a draft lottery in 1969 for men born from 1944 to 1950 to draft more soldiers into the war. To make matters worse, the United States damaged its’ foreign reputation because of its’ involvement in the war. As Robert D. Schulzinger asserts in his book, “A Time for War: The United States and Vietnam, 1941-1975”, “The war devastated Vietnam, exposed the limits of U.S. military power, altered the role of the United States in Asia, and destroyed the consensus over post-World War II foreign policy”. (Schulzinger ix) All the controversy around the U.S. involvement in the war paired with the fact that the Government pulled young men away from their homes and families to fight in a war that many thought they should not even be fighting can help the reader grasp the idea of why these soldiers’ minds were somewhere else during battle. And while it can be argued that they should have been focused on the battle not necessarily for the principle of why they were there, but rather for themselves and their fellow soldiers, it is easy for the audience to sympathize that they simply just did not want to be there because of the social and moral issues that society deemed to surround the Vietnam War. 

The United States during the 1960’s was a time of cultural change and political activism. The Civil Rights Movement was in full force, and many young people were becoming more and more socially active in certain political issues. The United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War provided the perfect platform for young social activists to protest an important political topic. Robert D. Schulzinger puts it well as he states in his book that, “The War became the dominant issue of foreign affairs by 1965 and acted as the catalyst for vast domestic social upheavals”. (Schulzinger ix) There were many anti-war and anti-violence protests going on throughout the country at this time as a result of the United States’ involvement in Vietnam, so much so that the slogan “Flower Power” developed during the 1960s, which was a slogan that encouraged peace and love over violence and war. Schulzinger describes the effect the war had on society’s culture at home in the United States by describing that the Vietnam War, “spawned the twentieth century’s most massive protests against government policies”. (Schulzinger x) With all of these protests against the Vietnam War and violence in general going on in their home country, it becomes clear to the reader just how the young soldiers thrown into the war can find themselves not entirely invested in the war. Without the backing of a majority of people from the U.S., which most likely included some of their friends and family, the soldiers in the Vietnam War had to have felt a little guilty about fighting in this war. Also, they probably were uncertain about the war’s purpose and if it was right for them to be there. With all of this going through their minds, it is easy to understand why these soldiers had many different preoccupations. The things these soldiers carried may initially be perceived as distractions, but with cultural context of where the soldiers come from, then they become reasonable and rational thoughts for anybody in their position.

“The Things They Carried” offers the reader an interesting and original perspective into the minds of the young soldiers who were involved in the Vietnam War during the 1960’s. The reader may interpret these thoughts of the soldiers in many different ways. Some readers may see them as distracting to the soldier, or that these thoughts take away from the purpose of the soldiers being there, or that these thoughts could even put them in danger. However, with added information about the background of the Vietnam War and about the culture of American society at the time, the reader can more easily comprehend just how these men could be distracted and let their minds wander to other things aside from the war. The controversy surrounding the United States’ involvement in the war is crucial background information that the reader should be aware of before reading this story. Also, the culture of the United States during the 1960’s as a whole is important for the reader to be aware of before reading this story, as the culture of America is represented through the inner thoughts of the soldiers. In conclusion, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is a story that is easier to appreciate when the audience has the previous knowledge of how the Vietnam War was perceived by the American people in the 1960’s, how the draft was opposed by many Americans, and how the culture of the United States in the 1960’s created a perfect storm for the American people to protest the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. 
