War never comes easy and no war is ever the same. Each war comes with its own physical and emotional challenges along with other obstacles such as weather and terrain. The Vietnam War lasted for nearly twenty years and resulted in the death of about three million people including roughly fifty-eight thousand American soldiers (History.com Staff). Though the death toll was vile, the emotional toll on the soldiers was even worse. The soldiers in Vietnam fought in horrible conditions while experiencing traumatic events that would stay with them forever. In Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried”, the author mixes fiction with autobiographical events he encountered during his time in the Vietnam War. Many of the character’s actions in the story indicate early symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, the soldiers display early signs of PTSD caused by traumatic events in the war and their lack of preparation for war as can be shown by their emotional distress, times of panic, and flashbacks.  

At the beginning of the story, none of the soldiers are described as having any true indicators of PTSD. But eventually, a traumatic event occurs that causes the soldiers to begin expressing indicators of PTSD. While coming back from using the bathroom, Ted Lavender, a soldier in the story, gets shot in the head and dies. Many of the other soldiers in the platoon then begin to display signs of emotional distress, especially the leader of the platoon, Lieutenant Cross. Once the helicopter picks up the body and leaves, Lieutenant Cross leads the soldiers into a Vietnamese village where they shoot and burn everything. Everything in the village is destroyed and the soldiers even killed the animals. Once they finish, they all sit afar while an airstrike is called on the village (O’Brien 336). According to Anderson and Mitchell, early symptoms of PTSD include anger and violence (554). The sudden angry outburst and reckless act of violence on the Vietnam village by the soldiers shows their emotional distress and vulnerable emotional state caused by the death of Ted Lavender. Once the soldiers watch the village get destroyed, they march for several hours for their next mission. While the platoon is taking a rest stop, Lieutenant Cross is found trembling and trying not to cry. The narrator then discusses Lieutenant Cross that “He felt shame… he sat at the bottom of his foxhole and wept” (O’Brien 336). This displays Lieutenant Cross’s mental breakdown caused by the death of his fellow soldier. Symptoms of PTSD include feelings of despair, hopelessness, or shame, and difficulty controlling emotions (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder-Symptoms 2). Lieutenant Cross exhibits these symptoms and feels that he is the reason for Ted Lavender’s death and that he could have prevented it. He has endured so many traumatic events in the war, that witnessing his fellow soldier die right in front of him has broken him down mentally. Another soldier in the platoon, Kiowa, even confesses “The Lieutenant’s in some deep hurt. I mean that crying jag; it wasn’t fake or anything, it was real heavy-duty hurt” (O’Brien 336). This illustrates how the other soldiers in the platoon are acknowledging what Lieutenant Cross is going through. That it is nothing of the ordinary for Lieutenant Cross to cry and breakdown when a fellow soldier dies. The recklessness of the soldiers on the village and Lieutenant Cross’s mental breakdown demonstrates the emotional distress of the soldiers caused by the death of Ted Lavender. 

As the soldiers in the story continue to encounter high stress situations and traumatic experiences, they begin to acquire panic attacks. “There were times of panic, when they squealed or wanted to but couldn’t, when they twitched and made moaning sounds and covered their heads and… fired their weapons blindly… and made stupid promises to themselves and to God” (O’Brien 337). These actions demonstrate how the fighting and other traumatic events from the war has begun to have an impact on the soldiers. That not only one soldier is beginning to break down, but all of them. “PTSD symptoms include sudden, angry outbursts, and panic in response to situations that symbolize or recall the trauma” (Bower 332). Since the soldiers have been in the war for so long, they have experienced so many traumatic events that they have begun to relive them. A noise or sound is causing the soldiers to recall and relive a previous traumatic event. These times of panic have also cause a psychological toll. The narrator describes what the soldiers consider during these times, “Squeeze the trigger… they imagined it. They imagined the quick, sweet pain… and they dreamed of freedom birds” (O’Brien 339). The quote describes how some of the soldiers were considering shooting themselves just so that the fighting would stop and they would finally be at peace. As reported by Friedman and Xenakis, PTSD is associated with symptoms of depression and suicidal thoughts (9). The times of panic are causing the soldiers to go lose their sanity and become depressed. They are wanting the fighting to stop along with all of the physical and emotional tolls that are a result of the war. It is forcing them to become desperate for an end. 

As the soldiers experience times of panic, they also experience violent flashbacks. These flashbacks are defined as the “re-experiencing of the event refers to unwanted recollections of the incident in the form of distressing images, nightmares, or flashbacks” (Yehuda 1). While the soldiers are traveling or taking a rest stop, the narrator witnesses other soldiers in the platoon cringing, sobbing and begging for the noise to stop (O’Brien 337). The soldiers are experiencing flashbacks to traumatic events that occurred during the war where they are in a high stress situation. “The symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder include the re-experiencing of the trauma either through upsetting thoughts or memories or, in extreme cases, through a flashback in which the trauma is relived at full emotional intensity” (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) 1). The soldiers experience these violent flashbacks making them believe they are in the middle of a war zone fighting for their lives. As can be seen by the narrator witnessing the other soldiers crying for the noise to stop, the flashbacks are sometimes only sounds from a previous experience, which also takes an emotional toll. But not all of the soldiers experienced only violent flashbacks. Lieutenant Cross experiences a flashback to a memory prior to the war. “Briefly, in the rain, Lieutenant Cross saw Martha’s gray eyes gazing back at him. He understood… he almost nodded at her” (O’Brien 340). Martha is a woman back home whom Lieutenant Cross loves dearly. The quote describes how Lieutenant Cross is hallucinating and sees Martha in the rain. The narrator also states how Lieutenant Cross almost “nodded back at her”. This shows that the flashback is vivid and feels real to him. These flashbacks experienced by the soldiers demonstrate how the war has affected them mentally and how they are suffering from mental health problems. 

In “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, the soldiers display early signs of PTSD as can be shown by their emotional distress, times of panic, and flashbacks. The story was written in a way that shows what the soldiers in the Vietnam War had to endure and what kind of physical and mental toll it had on them. The historical articles show how the soldiers in the story are showing symptoms of PTSD and how the symptoms are only worsening as the length of time in Vietnam increases. Lieutenant Cross has a mental breakdown after the death of Ted Lavender where he digs a hole and sobs to himself. He and the other soldiers then have an angry outburst and completely destroy a village including the people and animals. This shows the beginning of the soldier’s mental breakdowns. Eventually, the soldiers begin to have times of panic where they want to moan but cannot, where they panic and shoot their weapons blindly, and where they randomly make promises to God and themselves. Then the soldiers begin to have violent flashbacks. They relive previous traumatic events from the war. This too has an emotional toll on them. One night when it is raining, Lieutenant Cross hallucinates and sees his loved one from home. In Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried”, no matter how tough these soldiers were, the traumatic events from the war take a physical and emotional toll that they can never fully recover from. 
