Firestorm in Vietnam

In his novel, the author Tim O’Brien gives a detailed first-hand narration of the experience in the 1970’s in Vietnam. If I Die In A Combat Zone acknowledges the point that this is merely the description of one man’s view of the view, but I believe that this gives an accurate representation of the general mood found among the American soldiers. With emotions ranging from fear, to anger, to happiness, the author expands on the vast experiences of living in a war zone. Most of all, I believe that O’Brien employs his novel to demonstrate how the soldiers were feeling like pawns being used in an exercise among two major nations. If I had to pinpoint a theme, I would highlight the idea that this novel plays an instrumental role in illustrating the pain and angst that is felt in battle, and the misconceptions that may have been misconceived by outsiders of the war from thousands of miles away.

The author carves out his niche in the war by explaining exactly when the war first directly impacted him, which was when he was drafted to serve by the government, to the final time he occupied the nation of Vietnam and returned to his home. Within this period of time, he accumulates a vast amount of experience of the warfront and the dangers that are constantly besieging not only him, but the rest of his comrades. With everyone’s personal goal to return home alive and in one piece, the collective mission is not only to fight off “Charlie” and the Vietcong, but to fight off a battle that never ends, which is the battle for life. This remains a constantly challenging fight as soldiers are being repeatedly placed into harm’s way by the forces from above, where the common soldiers, or “grunts,” are forced to do raids into villages where the enemy lies and waits for their arrival, search for mines that are nearly impossible to spot without someone being attacked, and to protect themselves from the ambushes that are all too common against the American bases. Through this all, the author is able to maintain his composure and keep on fighting for himself and fighting for his nation, no matter how little he wants to be an active part in the war.

After completing the novel, I’m under the belief that one of the main themes of the work is the idea of individual survival, with the importance on a soldier’s survival being of greater significance than the victory and success of the United States in Vietnam. The author illustrates the general perception among the soldiers that there isn’t much understanding for the reason that war is necessary in this instance, which I believe is an accurate representation of the beliefs of the Americans still at home. However, Mr. O’Brien believes that while he may not agree with the reasons for battle, his job is to be a soldier and do what he is told, no matter how much he is afraid of the dangers that may await him. “I had neither the expertise nor the wisdom to synthesize answers, the facts were clouded…The war, I thought was wrongly conceived and poorly justified. But perhaps I was mistaken, and who really knew, anyway (O’Brien, 18)?” This difficult decision was faced by every soldier that was being placed into the combat zone, and each one maintained the personal sacrifice and fortitude to push on to battle the enemy at hand.

The author admitted early on in his writing that he was so afraid of the foreboding war that he was making the necessary plans to avoid the service and to hide in a foreign nation. In this instance, he spent time off from his training to research the nation of Sweden and how to acclimate with the people so that he would be able to hide there for the duration of the war. Even though he made it to the point of departure, the author was unable to bring himself to flee his nation, his family and friends, and the life he would leave behind. “It was over. I simply couldn’t bring myself to flee. Family, the home town, friends, history, tradition, fear, confusion, exile: I could not run (O’Brien, 68).” The dignity that kept him from abandoning the life and country that had raised him was too much to personally overcome. This pride in self and in nation was something that the government hoped the ordinary citizens would feel about this foreign war.

I believe that in this writing, the author is sending a message to his fellow Americans that pride in one’s nation should be first and foremost when it comes to making the difficult decisions. Unfortunately for O’Brien and many of the other soldiers, when they returned home, they were met with opposition and anger for taking part in a war that was believed to be wrong on many political and moral levels. Through his words, the author tries to explain that many of the men who went across the Pacific had similar stances as the Americans who remained on the home front, but they went to serve their nation in a time of need. For O’Brien, he had grown up with a father and grandfather who had proudly served the United States in prior wars, so he found it sickening to himself to abandon the tradition of valor and sacrifice that had embodied the persona of American spirit for so long.

I believe that the author explains through his work that while he maintained the qualities of valor and determination, he was human as well, and the loss of life was painful. The soldiers did everything possible to ingratiate themselves to local residents who were merely in the crossroads of a war. “…and made friendships with the villagers. The children brought us crayfish, and we gave out C ration candy bars, a formality at first, but later the exchanges seemed something more than barter (O’Brien, 164).” The locals didn’t choose to be in the middle of a fight, and many of the Americans recognized this, which led to the two groups not only coexisting, but trading security for some of the local goods and services. The co-habitation also extended to times of need. In situations where civilians would be accidentally caught in the crossfire, the Americans would do everything possible to try to save a life. There were multiple instances throughout the work where the author saw helicopters being flown in to save the locals. Again, life was of greatest importance, and it showed that the soldiers were not as heartless as they were portrayed to be by the Americans back home. Not only did these actions support America’s existence in Vietnam among the locals, but it demonstrated that soldiers are humans first, and they were not willing to disrespect that understanding for war.