The Vietnam War was debatably the most violent war the United States of America has ever engaged in, lasting over 20 years. The death toll was well over one million. The fighting style was dangerous and chaotic. Surprise attacks were the norm and soldiers would stay up countless nights imagining what they had coming for them the next day. In Jim O’Brien’s, “The Things They Carried”, the narrator gives a first person view of life in Vietnam during the war. O’Brien goes into great detail into the style of fighting and the impact that has on a young soldier who was not there by choice. The description of warfare in Vietnam by O’Brien makes it very clear this was not an enjoyable venture. Young and unexperienced soldiers were sent out into a mysterious country without knowing who their enemy was or where they were located. The violence of Vietnam War changed soldier’s life immensely during the war and after because of the constant violence, the fear of the unknown, and the life changing experiences. O’Brien is able to give the most accurate description of warfare in Vietnam and the impact it has on the soldiers who fought there. 

The United States of America engaged in war against the Viet Cong, a communist regime, in 1954 while President Dwight Eisenhower was in office and fought until 1975 when President Gerald Ford was in office. The Vietnam was a war that not many Americans wanted to fight and the ones that did, fought for their lives. The Viet Cong had a very specific style of warfare which consisted of sneak attacks and surprises, better known was guerilla warfare. Defending against guerilla warfare was difficult for the United States, “When the United States had to confront a guerilla threat in Vietnam, William Westmoreland, the commander of US operations there, formulated an overwhelmingly conventional response that expended lots of firepower and destroyed lives on both sides” (Boot 112). The most successful way to battle guerilla warfare was to attack with every possible soldier. The demand for able bodied soldiers was increasing and a draft was put into place. Using the Selective Service System, men 18 years or older were legally required to register at their Local Draft Board (Bitler and Schimdt 16). The men who were selected by the Service System had little time before they would get sent into a new country to battle the Viet Cong and communism. The lack of experience made the war violent and with every death, there was a new solider to take his place. O’Brien wrote about the inexperience of fellow soldiers, “he could not bring himself to worry about the matters of security. He was beyond that. He was just a kid at war…He was twenty-four years old. He couldn’t help it” (O’Brien 334). Young soldiers were being sent into war with no choice. The average age of an American solider during the Vietnam war was 19.2 years old (Huppenbauer 1699). Young men, still in high school, were being sent into the war with very little training. The lack of training contributed to the high death toll. The Vietnam War was violent and the survival rate was low yet soldiers of 18 years old went into battle with no remorse. 

The average day in Vietnam serving for the United States military was the same every day. Marching from village to village attempting to find Viet Cong and stop their movement. “In mid-April, it was their mission to search out and destroy the elaborate tunnel complexes in the Than Khe area of south of Chu Lai” (O’Brien 332). The missions O’Brien describes are very accurate to the average day in Vietnam. Navroz Mody, a veteran, spoke about the tunnels and chemical warfare stating, “I treated a little boy who had been sitting in the tunnel, but I could not save him” (Mody 948). O’Brien writes of personal experiences going into dangerous tunnels not knowing what could be in there. Whether it was Viet Cong soldiers, innocent children, or tear gas, going into the tunnels was no simple task especially for an 18-year-old. 

Following the Vietnam war many veterans struggled to substance abuse issues. The war caused very high stress for soldiers and families at home alike. The constant stress and worry was an issue for soldiers so they often drank and smoked to relax. O’Brien spoke about an experience following the death of a fellow soldier, “they would fall silent, lighting a joint and tracking its passage from man to man, inhaling, holding in the humiliation. Scary stuff, one for them might say” (O’Brien 338). The soldiers carried pounds of gear, weapons, food, medical supplies, alcohol, and even marijuana. This constant stress of war caused some soldiers to abuse these substances as well as morphine and other opiates. These drugs can become very addictive and lead to health issue down the road as well as risk of over dose. Huppenbauer wrote about these substances stating, “The widespread availability and use of both alcohol and illicit substances provided the soldier with a means of adapting to the situation…The results, however, were long term substance addiction problems” (Huppenauer 1699). Soldiers had very little supervision during missions which lead to increased use of drugs and alcohol. At night soldiers would sit in trenches alone only thinking about what dangers were surrounding them. The need for relaxing substances was very clear when O’Brien added, “Until he was shot, Ted Lavender carried 6 or 7 ounces of premium dope [Marijuana], which for him was a necessity” (O’Brien 329). Soldiers relied on these drugs to take off the edge. With constant drug use, substance abuse became a serious issue. Soldiers saw their own men die every day. Deaths were violent and usually came from surprise attacks. During O’Brien’s mission he lost a fellow soldier, “Ted Lavender was shot in the head on his way back from peeing…The cheekbone was gone. Oh shit, Rat Kiley said, the guy’s dead. The guy’s dead, he kept saying” (O’Brien 334). The death of a fellow soldier weighed heavy on the narrators conscious. The constant death and fear of death had a great impact on soldiers mental wellbeing. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was very common for Vietnam veterans, “PTSD, a diagnosis invented out of the experience of the US war in Vietnam and its aftermath for veterans” (Howell 214-215). The impact of war in Vietnam was so great that it stayed with soldiers for the rest of their lives. When soldiers finally returned home they were no longer fighting but the impact of years in battle would stay with them forever. “In numbers, this new rate means that 236,000 veterans currently have PTSD from the Vietnam War, an enormous long-term emotional and human cost of war” (Vermetten 184). The impact of the Vietnam War was so substantial that veterans are still being treated today 60 years later. War has such an impact on soldiers’ lives, especially when members of their own units die. After the death of O’Brien’s fellow solider, he described it as, “He [O’Brien] felt shame. He hated himself…this was something he [O’Brien] would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war” (O’Brien 336). O’Brien felt reasonable for every death in his unit and it still impacts him to this day. 

The Vietnam War changed the United States. Thousands of casualties, which were mainly young men with little no experience. O’Brien experienced the war in Vietnam and it will always have an impact on his life and the lives of all veterans who served for the United States. O’Brien is able to confirm every part of the war in the novel “The Things They Carried”. The description of warfare and the impact it has after, is very clear and accurate. War changes people, whether that is for good or bad, and it does not change overnight. The historical context available today makes that very clear. Soldiers’ lives were changed forever through guerilla warfare and tunnel warfare. As well as through the impact of substance abuse and PTSD for intense warfare every day. The soldiers who fought in Vietnam fought with everything they could so the United States could be where it is today.
