
The Vietnam War was a tragedy that had left a lingering trauma for all of the surviving war veterans of the United States. Despite their race, color, or age, these men all faced physical, mental, and emotional hardship throughout the course of this almost twenty-year battle. Not only were these men taken away from their families, and thrown into the harsh conditions of training and battle, but the surviving veterans came back home as traumatized and emotionally disturbed individuals, due to the gore and bloodshed they had experienced while serving.    

In Tim O’Brien’s, The Things They Carried, the physical and emotional hardship that these Vietnam Veterans faced was elaborated and constructed in order for the readers to fully understand the sacrifices these men were forced to make. By using pathos, O’Brien was able to capture the attention of his readers and allow them to connect emotionally to the soldiers, especially to Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, who gave up his deep love for Martha, in order to focus on leading his troops to victory. Such a sacrifice was quite a difficult one for Lieutenant Cross to make in order for him to perform his required duties and serve his country. 

The story also provides the readers with cultural context by providing the precise setting of where the troops fought in Vietnam. It was stated in the story that soldier Ted Lavender was shot in the head and died outside of Than Khe, an area just south of the town Chu Lai. By providing his audience with such information, readers are able to picture the setting and have a better understanding of the harsh living conditions the troops faced. 

While making historical connections when reading about Lieutenant Cross and his troops, a fact to consider is that the Vietnam War was fought between the 1950s and the 1970s. O’Brien provides us with a lengthy description about the types of weapons and equipment these soldiers carried. One can infer that the lack of technology of this time made living conditions even more difficult for the troops, as opposed to those who serve our country today. Being thrown into unknown territory without much guidance or assistance was quite the difficulty for these veterans. Heavy guns and machinery that weighed over ten pounds were carried, making it harder for the troops to move quickly and escape from the enemy. Perhaps if these veterans had the weapons and technology that we had in our day and age, the war would have ended much faster, less lives would have been lost, and less land destroyed. 

The Things They Carried, also provides us with a large amount of symbolism throughout the course of the story. Not only did it speak about the weapons or personal items the soldiers carried in their rucksack, but it also elaborated on the kinds of feelings and thoughts the troops had throughout the course of the war. The war was the focal influence of the emotional reactions of these men because the many events that had taken place within this battle shaped the experiences they had. For instance, when Ted Lavender was shot in the head, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross felt grief and sorrow because he felt that his feelings for Martha were getting in the way of his leadership skills, which prompted him to make the sacrifice of giving her up.  

Another hardship that had resulted from this historical war was Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Author Eric Vermetten, along with a handful of other intellectuals, has written the article PTSD and Vietnam Veterans in order to show readers the horrible and long term, post-war effects these war veterans are forced to suffer with. With this in mind, readers can make connections and infer that this mental illness was developed from the sight of the gory events these troops had witnessed. One can only imagine the kind of horrible bloodshed that had taken place and the number of innocent lives lost. 

The death of Ted Lavender and related tragedies could have caused the troops to develop this mental illness after they had returned from war. While many of the soldiers in The Things They Carried seemed indifferent to the death of their comrade, one can only guess that the illness can develop whether a person realizes it or not. Symptoms include emotional detachment, nightmares, insomnia, severe anxiety, flashback, mistrust, and a deep sense of guilt. Consequently, the fact that one event could cause a lifetime of emotional pain is a burden that many people should not face, just for trying to serve their country. 

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a lifelong anxiety disorder and can also take a toll on one’s physical health. Readers can plainly see that the soldiers in The Things They Carried already exhibit some of the symptoms of this illness, whether they realize it or not. According to the U.S Department of Veteran Affairs, more than half of the veterans who had PTSD managed to develop a musculoskeletal condition, such as arthritis, and about a third of veterans developed diseases in either their respiratory or nervous systems.  

In the early 1980s, Congress had made the decision to hold a study for the Vietnam veterans that had developed PTSD. This became the first study to evaluate the prevalence of PTSD among these Veterans, and became known as the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study, or the NVVRS. The NVVRS brought greater attention and value to the issue of PTSD as it found that as many as 15 percent of Vietnam Veterans had developed  PTSD over time. 

Both the NVVRS and NVVLS  (National Vietnam Veteran Longitudinal study) compared two groups of Veterans, “theater” veterans  (those who were deployed and actually served in the Vietnam war) and “era veterans” ( those who served during the Vietnam-era, but were not deployed to the Vietnam theater) . The NVVLS assessment of the Veterans’ physical and mental health included a self-report survey, a phone interview, and for some randomly selected participants, an additional phone interview led by a mental health clinician that primarily focused on issues including PTSD, depression, and substance abuse. 

While looking back at The Things They Carried, readers know that substance abuse was a trait that Ted Lavender possessed. O’Brien states that he carried “dope” everywhere he went because he found it to be a necessity. By making connections, we can infer that his overuse of marijuana could have been caused by the development of PTSD for Lavender, and that he was using the drug to “escape” the harsh reality that he was forcefully being thrown into.  

With these facts in mind, it is safe to say that the gruesome history of the Vietnam war had a highly negative impact on these war veterans. The events of this battle caused these men to make ultimate sacrifices that interfered with their overall health and wellness. The Vietnam war really makes us put things into perspective and consider the hardship of these veterans. In today’s society these men live their lives being underappreciated for being forced to serve their country, and for suffering the possibility of having a severe anxiety disorder, known as PTSD. Consequently, one of the morals of this event is that history will always have a large impact on a society, whether positive or negative, and that it will continue to further shape our ever-changing nation.  
