The short story, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien allows the reader insight on the struggles that the American soldiers faced while being overseas in the Vietnam war. Throughout the course of the war, many soldiers developed a mental health condition called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a results of the actions that they not only witnessed, but participated in. The conditions that the soldiers experienced were far from ideal and many of them turned to drugs to cope with loss and fear. The majority of the soldiers were greatly affected by their involvement in Vietnam, and their mental health was something they struggled to deal with upon returning home. Comprehension of the conditions soldiers faced while overseas, the drug culture that was accepted as the norm during this time period, and the lasting effects of PTSD allows the reader to better understand the actions and emotional responses that the soldiers in the story displayed. 

The Vietnam war took place between the years 1954 and 1975. Throughout the course of the war, America had a prominent presence not only in combat, but through negotiations both during and at the end of the war. The Vietnam war began as a result of conflict between North and South Vietnam (Herring). At the time period in which this all took place, North Vietnam was led by Ho Chi Min, a communist leader who was supported by the Viet Minh. The communist party in North Vietnam was aided by the southern rebel group the Viet Cong(Herring). The north was opposed by French forces in the south and its citizens. The communist north and its supporters desired to have a united communist country, which would require taking over South Vietnam and forcing the French forces stationed there out. The parties were divided at the 17th parallel, a line which separated North and South Vietnam had been drawn up at the Geneva Conference in 1954 with the hopes of keeping each side separate yet happy with the fact that they could have their own governmental structure and leaders. The president of South Vietnam was Ngo Dinh Diem and in 1955 the President of the United States, Dwight Eisenhower, declared support for French forces in South Vietnam and South Vietnam itself(Herring).  He provided them with weaponry and training to defend themselves from North Vietnamese forces. This action instead created more tension between sides and by the year 1962 there was heavy U.S. military presence in South Vietnam by the order of JFK due to the fact that he was worried that if one country fell to communism all those around it would as well. 

In addition to tensions between North and South Vietnam, this war dug the USSR and the U.S. further into the cold war. The cold war was not a war fought on the battlefield but instead a war in the race to be the best not just militarily but technologically. This was fought through proxy wars such as the Vietnam war and through historical events such as the space race and the Cuban missile crisis. The cold war led the USSR and American troops to be on opposing sides of the Vietnam war. This was also due in large to the fact that the USSR was communist nation so it clearly would support the communist north. North and South Vietnam were seen as puppets that allowed the Soviet Union and the united states to fight in a war that was not on their own turf and therefore not as detrimental as a whole to their nation.  The fact that the American troops were not only fighting communist rebels but also soviet soldiers who were highly trained and had excellent weaponry was one of the reasons that the conditions soldiers faced in the Vietnam war were so poor.  

The Vietnam war challenged soldiers through the climate, style of war, and terrain of the country. This war was the first in which guerilla warfare was introduced. This was a method in which opposing sides travel in groups with the idea of ambush and sabotage throughout the jungle terrain. This idea was different than any method pervious used due to the fact that until this point in time war was typically fought in open space with opposing sides lined up across from each other allowing both sides equal viewpoint. In addition, due to the cold war new weaponry was introduced. They were much more advanced and allowed for more damage. One thing that the American soldiers for sure were not used to was the climate and terrain of Vietnam. It was extremely hot and soldiers typically had to carry very heavy bags and weapons with them as they walked through thick jungle. The factor of the jungle made it very hard to see and forced the soldiers to be alert at all times due to the fact that they could be ambushed at any point and needed to be prepared to fight back. These surprise attacks were motivated by the fact that they Viet Cong did not have as advanced weapons and therefore needed a method in order to stand a chance against American soldiers. The juggles contained many booby-traps and mines in an attempt to stop American soldiers from advancing. In addition, they would often come across hidden sniper fire from the trees. These methods of warfare resulted in the deaths of not only many soldiers but also civilians due to the fact that no one knew who the enemy was or where they were coming from. Soldiers witnessed and participated in many horrible things including watching their friends die and killing innocent people. 

In the short story The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien narrates the experience of a company in the Vietnam war led by Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. These tales are a reflection of his own experience in Vietnam as an American soldier. The story is set up in a serious of lists, describing the things the men carry on them as they travel day to day. The reader can deduct from these lists that the conditions that these soldiers face are far from ideal. O’Brien describes the thigs they carried as not only being the physical bags on their backs but emotional damage and baggage.  It is seen in the quote “’They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried’”(O’Brien 335) that the things the men were burdened with were a result of the things they witnessed and were not experiences that they could easily forget. The ordeal of being overseas in combat, especially this war where new tactics were introduced, caused a lot of suffering to the soldiers and forced them to live with things that emotionally scarred them. At one point in the story, O’Brien tells of a soldier in his company who carried around the thumb of a dead boy. This demonstrates and insensitivity to death and highlights the fact that the soldiers were so completely surrounded by death that it has become a norm for them and no one even questions why they man carries around a thumb, they simply all believe that it is a superstition thing. This experiment of finding the young boy burned in the ditch also demonstrates the fact that many innocent people were killed in the war. The young boy could have been a communist rebel however it is unlikely that he had anything to do with the war and is much more likely that he stumbled upon a booby-trap or mine. In addition, the act of cutting a thumb off a dead body would normally cause someone to question the sanity of the individual doing it however all the soldiers who witnessed it just accepted it. The conditions described by O’Brien hold more power due to the fact that he writes about experiences similar to those that he as a veteran of the war experienced. These circumstances that O’Brien described and the actions of the soldiers in his company lead into the discussion of the mental health condition PTSD which was developed by many soldiers overseas during this war.

PTSD is defined in the DSM5 as “history of exposure to a traumatic event that meets specific stipulations and symptoms from each of four symptom clusters: intrusion, avoidance, negative alterations in cognitions and mood, and alterations in arousal and reactivity” (Post…). In broader terms it can be defined as a mental health condition caused by exposure to a traumatizing experience or event that leaves the individual with severe symptoms. These symptoms can range from severe anxiety to vivid and uncontrollable flashbacks of the memory. This was a condition that was not widely talked about or recognized until several years after the Vietnam war (Post…). It was not added to the DSM 3 as a condition until 1980 which was five years after the war. As PTSD first began to be studied, they found that out of a surveyed 1200 veterans 30.9% had experienced PTSD at some point in their lifetime and that 15.2% were currently suffering from PTSD even after the Vietnam war was over and they had been home for 13 years (Schlenger). Later research presented that 1 in every 3 soldiers who saw combat in Vietnam had the mental illness PTSD as a result. These vast numbers forced scientists to further their research into the condition and determine why so many soldiers were returning home so affected from the things they witnessed. 

To better understand why so many soldiers in Vietnam presented with this condition, scientists turned to analyzing what they experienced in combat. Due to the high stressors of always having to be on alert and not knowing who the enemy was caused many Vietnam soldiers to be distrustful and jumpy. They constantly had to watch their backs and constantly felt fear. In addition, many of the soldiers who were sent overseas were very young and not properly prepared for physical combat or the stress that they would be put under. They were subjected to things that normal 18-24 year olds should not have experienced and most of them probably took lives of innocent people. They were on constant alert and always sacred. They watched their friends die. They felt as though they had no control. PTSD received the nickname post-Vietnam syndrome because so many soldiers who returned were diagnosed with it.  Many of them experienced survivor’s guilt, nightmares, anger, and severe anxiety. While soldiers were overseas exercising these things, they did not know how to control their emotions. Many turned to one of two methods: either avoidance or numbing (Post…). Avoidance is the concept of staying clear of anything that could cause a stressor and trigger memories or anxiety. This one better describes the methods used by soldiers who had returned home. Soldiers in combat instead subconsciously turned to numbing, or suppressing their feelings (Post…). By not letting the things they witnessed have an emotional effect on them, it was as though they could pretend it weren’t happening and that they weren’t scared. 

This concept of numbing is one that can be used to describe the emotional response of soldiers in the company to two events in O’Brien’s short story. The first is again, the thumb. The fact that none of the soldiers question the action of cutting a thumb off a dead boy proves that at this point they have witnessed do much death and destruction that they no longer notice it. Numbing is a coping method in which the soldier can deny that what they are witnessing is actually happening and gives them some comfort. In addition to no one questioning the removal of the thumb, it is viewed as completely normal for Norman Bowker to carry around a thumb, as if it is completely sane for an individual to have a body part as a token. The second instance that numbing occurs in the short story is after Ted Lavenders death. Everyone in the company has different ways of dealing with losing their friend, but Kiowa best exemplifies the method of numbing. By continuously saying “Like cement…I swear to God-boom, down. Not a word” (O’Brien 336) Kiowa is dehumanizing Lavender and making it easier to cope with his death. He later explains that “he wished he could find some great sadness, or even anger, but the emotion wasn’t there and he couldn’t make it happen” (O’Brien 337). Kiowa knows that there is something missing and that he should feel an emotion about his friend’s death, but due to the fact by this point in time he has probably experienced so much death and destruction, his emotions are just completely turned off. This is his brains way of dealing with the sadness and grief; just ignoring any and all emotion. This can be related back to the fight or flight idea. Due to the fact that these men are in constant fear of the enemy and for their lives, their bodies way of coping and turning off emotion allows them to stay focused instead on their own safety instead of wallowing in grief. 
