During the time period of the Vietnam War, which is when and where the text, “The Things They Carried” takes place, there were very gruesome events that had taken place during the war that could have caused may of the United States Veterans of this war to contract some form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. For example, towards the end of the text, author Tim O’Brien goes into the detail of the brutal death of Private Lavender that was witnessed by every member of the group. Events such as Lavender’s death could be the a reason such a large amount of the Vietnam war veterans have experienced some form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In fact, as of 2007, there were over 200,000 veterans of the Vietnam War with some form of PTSD (Vermetten 184). Being so that there is such a large amount of veterans that have been diagnosed with PTSD, leads to the accusation that the Vietnam War was a war like any other and resulted in many tragic events involving members of the United States military. Some of these terrible events are evident in Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” and definitely relates the remarkable PTSD numbers to the unimaginable terrors faced by one platoon in the army during this time.

The Vietnam War created a very large amount of terror in the soldiers that participated in the war and those who were many miles away from it and it is now viewed as one of the biggest failures in American history. Since the Vietnam war serves as the setting for this text, knowing how many veterans suffer from PTSD helps the audience make the conclusion that the text takes place during a very controversial time period in which many Americans lost their lives fighting war the public nor the military is for fighting. Knowing the information and facts provided by the following sources allows the reader to understand just how deadly and uncomforting fighting in the Vietnam War must have been. It is this understanding of the War and its deadly details that in turn allows the reader to interpret the missions that the members of the platoon participated in and how the things they specifically carried reflected the deadly events they had experienced and what they decide to carry as a result. However, reading the text, matching the specific events that took place during this time with evidence and knowing the resulting data had come out of the war truly does not give us the exact idea what the war entailed. Since the Vietnam War was an unwanted and poorly supported war, many Americans stood against the war that caused them to perform actions of hatred towards the American Government and Military.

During the Vietnam War, Americas for the most part were against sending troops into Vietnam. Actually over according to poll taken by Robert B.  Smith, over 50% of the American people felt sending troops into Vietnam was a mistake (Smith 157). In the text, the public’s opinion of the war was evident through Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and his relationship with Martha, a college girl that he met before the war. Throughout the text, Lieutenant Cross exchanges many letters with Martha and the only thing Martha states about the war is when she is referring to Jimmy to be safe (O’Brien 328). Martha’s letters reflect the anti-war ideology displayed by the public at this time. By never actually mentioning the war other than to tell Jimmy to be careful, Martha quietly shares the public’s views of the Vietnam War and how although she is fully aware of the war, choosing to say nothing about it which reflects the publics negative views towards the United States involvement in Vietnam. So not only did those who participated in the war go through some of the most deadly and traumatic events in United States history but they also came home to a hostile domestic environment as the people expressed their hatred of the war towards those who served in it. As a result, those returning from battle that had experienced the life changing events that war provided only got to return to their homes only to be viewed as a constant reminder of a terrible war. The combination of both hostile environments both foreign and domestic could be one of the deciding factors that resulted in a breathtaking amount of veterans that are diagnosed with PTSD. These specific events could have had an outcome of the style and tone in which the text was written, given that the author, Tim O’Brien was a Sargent during the Vietnam War.

In the text “The Things They Carried”, author Tim O’Brien does not stray far from focusing on a single platoon in the army. It seems as if he almost focuses in even more on the Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, the leader of the platoon, which be connected to the fact that O’Brien was also in a position of power . As a result, O’Brien writes in the form of someone who has experienced these moments in the fields of Vietnam. Throughout the text, O’Brien really focuses on what exactly each member of the platoon carries on each specific mission. This is evident of O’Brien’s experience in the war because he appears to focus on the abstractness of each specific item and how each member of the platoon believes it will help them in survival.  The texts format also appears to run chronologically up until the death of Private Lavender. For example, many times throughout the text, O’Brien begins a new paragraph or focal point with something along the lines of “In the first week of April, before Lavender died,” which shows how gruesome events such as brutal deaths can serve as a date or time. Events such as this could be a factor in contributing to the many cases of Post Traumatic stress disorder resulting from the Vietnam War.

The Vietnam War represents one of largest catastrophes in American history. The war took place during a very hostile time period, as tension was very high between the American people and the United States government. In fact, over 50% of the American people were against the United State’s involvement in Vietnam, which led a lower moral amongst the soldiers and ultimately led to the removal of all the troops in Vietnam.  However, the removal of the troops took after the true damage had been done and as of 2007 over 200,000 veterans had shown some sign of PTSD (Vermetten 184).. This breath-taking statistic allows the reader to interpret the environment that the characters encounter in the text, “The Things They Carried”, which results in the transformation of the audience’s understanding of the time period and what how the setting plays such a larger role in the text than once thought.
