               Post-traumatic stress disorder is obtained through extremely traumatic experiences. Most commonly experienced by war veterans, this disorder changes lives for the worst and makes soldiers relive those terrifying days in battle each day. Approximately eight percent of the current population has acquired this psychological disorder and are fighting to keep their everyday lives normal. This condition causes flashbacks to the traumatic experience that are feel so real that those engaged in them lash out in reaction to the scenes going through their mind. These hallucinations cause injuries and harm to loved ones, and those consumed by the flashbacks do not know that it is even happening. The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, references the disorder and how it affects those who were enlisted in the Vietnam War. The articles written by Mark Moyar and Len Sperry speak on the damage that post-traumatic stress disorder has on the everyday life, and directly correlates to The Things They Carried, and the message that Tim O’Brien passes about post-traumatic stress disorder.  

               Len Sperry declares that although post-traumatic stress disorder is not typical in every situation of traumatic stress, it is still a very relevant problem for today’s society.  Sperry touches on the idea that “previous experiences influence the risk of developing PTSD, particularly when the exposure to stress occurs early in life.” These statements provide knowledge that post-traumatic stress disorder applies most commonly in those who experience an extremely traumatic situation early in life. This could be a parent or loved one passing away, a severe car accident, or anything that causes the child to frighten enough to the point where he or she will be haunted by it for years to come. For particularly bad cases, the mind blocks out certain memories to keep he or she from having to remember the especially traumatic events. These memories are often drug back up later in life with the sight of something that is related to those memories. The author also speaks of gender differences when it comes to post-traumatic stress disorder. Females are more likely to have this disorder than men on a two to one ratio. “These differences in reported cases of PTSD frequency among women cannot be explained solely based on the type of exposure or severity alone. At this time, the reason for these differences is unclear.” Unsure of how or why women suffer from this condition more frequently than men, scientists and psychiatrists are still searching for answers. 

    Through this thorough background information, one is able to create a knowledge and understanding of this psychological disorder. By knowing more about the disorder itself, events in the book seem more logical. This also allows the reader to see more of a causational relationship and how these young men were so severely affected by what they went through. Readers can also understand more fully the characters themselves. By creating an understanding of the characters, the disorder can consequentially be even more understood through the observance of these specific examples. A sense of empathy is also created when all of the details of this life-changing disorder is revealed. It is advantageous for a reader to read this article in combination with The Things They Carried because it explains more clearly the effect of the Vietnam War on the young men at the center of the novel. Paired with the novel, this article can provide a more complete explanation of PTSD and its historical significance not only in the Vietnam War, but in all forms of war.

    This article relates back to Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” by touching on the early age of the men. “Early age” does not directly correlate to an infant, but can also mean a young adult. The men who were drafted to go to the Vietnam War were fresh adults, many of whom had turned eighteen the same day that they enlisted in the military. Seeing someone, especially a friend get killed standing right next to you is something that no man should ever have to witness. These premature adults are fighting for our country, risking their lives for what they have been told is right. They have only lived eighteen years of their life and still turn to their parents to direct them in life. These facts influence the chances that one of these men will get post-traumatic stress disorder, and will affect their lives forever. 

               In The Things They Carried, it is explained that the platoon and every member of it become family. They live, eat, and fight together. They entrust each other with their lives, and would die for one another if it came to it. Ted Lavender, one of the characters in the novel, was a part of this platoon. He was best friends with several men in the group, fought with them, survived with them. He was shot in the head while peeing in the middle of the night. Ted Lavender’s death was something that none of the men were prepared for. Kiowa, another platoon member, was in shock for several days. Each soldier saw his death and handled it in their own way, some handling it better than others. At the end of the novel, Tim O’Brien states that after the war, not only he, but several members of his platoon went home and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. This is a very real problem in today’s generation, where traumatic experiences are interacted with by thousands of people each day.

               Mark Moyar writes based on facts that he learned in an intro level class at Harvard University on the Vietnam War. The war was between the North Vietnamese and the South Vietnamese. Against most people’s beliefs, the what was not between the Vietcong and the United States. The USA went to the country to aid and make sure that the communist South Vietnam did not take over, thus causing a domino effect in the fall of other countries. Moyar states that “The South Vietnamese president had to be replaced before the war could be won.” This hits home on the American strategy of the Vietnam War, and how we planned to take down the Southern Vietnamese infantry. This article also emphasizes the “domino theory,” which is the idea that if one country falls to Communism, countries around it would follow suit. The United States felt that it was necessary to step in and help the countries that were unable to defend its own borders and help defeat the Communist forces. The domino effect was widely spread around the world, and was the basis of World War Two, as well as the Vietnam War. It caused powerhouse countries, such as Russia, USA, Britain, Italy, and Japan to take sides politically, and fight for their cause. It caused a divide in the world balance, and was the basis for one of the bloodiest wars in the history of the world. 

In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, no detail is forgotten. As the reader consumes the novel, he or she reads of the gory, gruesome elements that the soldiers faced while they were in Vietnam. O’Brien made it so that the reader would start to understand what the men who fought for our country went through, and see some of the images that they saw. There were countless deaths in The Things They Carried, both in the platoon, as well as on the Vietnamese side. Each death was individually horrific, as the reader got to picture every death in their minds. These reasons are just the tip of the ice berg for those who experienced war or any traumatic experience, and those without this traumatic disorder will never fully understand what they are going through. 

Post-traumatic stress disorder martyrs are generally looked down upon in public, due to their inability to control themselves when they go into one of their flashbacks. People look at them as some sort of freak, when in reality, they fought for our country so that we could have normal lives, while they now must deal with this life changing emotional and mental instability. Tim O’Brien wanted to pass on that what he and all the other troops that went to Vietnam had to experience was truly traumatic. The author wanted the public to know what they had faced, and thought that maybe then, the world would start to understand what post-traumatic stress disorder victims go through each day. 
