Treatment of Vietnam Veterans Tim O’Brien served in the Vietnam War, and his short story “The Things They Carried” presents the effects of the war on its young soldiers. The treatment of veterans after their return also affects them. The Vietnam War was different from other wars, because too many in the U.S. the soldiers did not return as heroes but as cruel, wicked, and drug addicted men. The public directs its distaste towards the war at the soldiers, as if they are to blame. The also Veterans had little support from the government who pulled them away from their families to fight through the draft. Some men were not able to receive the help they needed because the symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) did not show until a year
They instead received hostility, rejection, and judgment from society, which left them feeling isolated, frustrated, and enraged. Soldiers relied on drugs and alcohol to ease stress and forget the horrors of the battlefield. Word spread back to the states that the soldiers were using drugs and the military acted quickly to suppress drug use. After banning marijuana, the soldiers used heroin and favored it. The drugs used were easily obtainable but were harder to obtain after coming back to the states. Some veterans were able to stop their alcohol and drug use, because it began to affect their marriages and relationships. Veterans had a hard time finding employment after the war. Employers considered a veteran’s service in the Vietnam War as evidence of drug addiction, and refused to hire them. The rejections only made the soldier’s struggles adjusting back to normal life even harder and encouraged their drinking and drug use. These harmful habits were their way of coping with the hate and rejection from society while still helping them forget their experiences in
This made it easy for the government to ignore the growing cases of PTSD in Vietnam veterans. It would have benefited veterans to have a support group of other Vietnam Veterans where they could talk to others about their experiences in an understanding environment. The lack of understanding from society leads to veterans not talking about their experiences and keeping their troubles to themselves. The way soldiers returned home is another factor in the high cases of PTSD. Long ship rides took Soldiers back in past wars, whereas Vietnam soldiers flew home. The time difference of the trips is vital for their emotion and mental wellbeing. The long boat ride home provides time for soldiers to talk to one another about their experiences and feelings with someone who understands. Vietnam soldiers did not have a chance to talk to anyone on their quick plane ride
The latter is explained from a deeper perspective. While Junger gave many examples of why PTSD rates in America were so high, the most captivating was: Today’s veterans often come home to find that although they are willing to die for their country, they’re not sure how to live for it. It’s hard to know how to live in a country that regularly tears itself apart along every possible ethnic and demographic boundary. In combat, soldiers all but ignore differences of race, religion and politics within their platoon. It’s no wonder they get so depressed when they come home.
Vietnam was a highly debated war among citizens of the United States. This war was like no other with regards to how it affected people on the home front. In past war’s the population of the United States mainly supported the war and admired soldiers for their courage. During the Vietnam War, citizens of the U.S. had a contradictory view then in the past. This dilemma of not having the support of the people originates from the culture and the time period. During this time period it would be the fourth time Americans went to war in that century which made it tough for Americans to give their supportS (Schlesinger 8). Most Americans did not know why the country was getting involved in Vietnam as well as what the United States’ agenda was. This dilemma ties into the short story, “On the Rainy River” which is a passage from Tim O’Brien’s book The Things They Carried.
In the short story, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, each soldier carries many items during times of war and strife, but each necessity differs. This short story depicts what each soldier carries mentally, physically, and emotionally on his shoulders as long, fatiguing weeks wain on during the Vietnam War. The author Tim O’Brien is a Vietnam War veteran, an author, the narrator, and a teacher. The main character, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is a Vietnam War soldier who is away at war fighting a mind battle about a woman he left behind in New Jersey because he is sick with love while trying to fulfill his duties as a soldier to keep America free. Tim O’Brien depicts in “The Things They Carried” a troubled man who also shoulders the
The soldiers that fought in the Vietnam War had to endure many incredibly horrifying experiences. It was these events that led to great human emotions. It was those feelings that were the things they carried. Everything they carried affected them, whether it was physical or mental. Everything they carry could in one way or another cause them to emotionally or physically break down.
A Vietnam War veteran experienced many gruesome and horrifying events during their time of serving the army. Seeing such horrifying things affected their mental and emotional thinking “PTSD is defined as a re-experience of a traumatic event, for example, flashbacks. Anything can trigger a flashback a click, a movement, anything associated with the past event” (Cruz). Seeing such horrifying things affected their mental and emotional thinking. A soldier was told to forget what they saw and basically move on from it, but it only made it worse. Having everything “bottled up” makes it even harder to treat PTSD. U.S. soldiers had to live with the disorder on their own without any help. “The veterans experience combat related nightmares, anxiety, anger, depression, alcohol and/or drug dependency, all are symptoms of PTSD” (Begg). The symptoms occurred over long periods of time when that person has been in certain situations that he or she was not ready to be in. Some of these situations including the Vietnam veterans not feeling like their unit was together or united. “Soldiers were sent into replace other soldiers, which caused the other members of the group to make fun or haze them. The unit never developed as much loyalty to each other as they should have” (Paulson and Krippner). “Many of...
Written by author Tim O’Brien after his own experience in Vietnam, “The Things They Carried” is a short story that introduces the reader to the experiences of soldiers away at war. O’Brien uses potent metaphors with a third person narrator to shape each character. In doing so, the reader is able to sympathize with the internal and external struggles the men endure. These symbolic comparisons often give even the smallest details great literary weight, due to their dual meanings. The symbolism in “The Things They Carried” guides the reader through the complex development of characters by establishing their humanity during the inhumane circumstance of war, articulating what the men need for emotional and spiritual survival, and by revealing the character’s psychological burdens.
The impact of the Vietnam War upon the soldiers who fought there was huge. The experience forever changed how they would think and act for the rest of their lives. One of the main reasons for this was there was little to no understanding by the soldiers as to why they were fighting this war. They felt they were killing innocent people, farmers, poor hard working people, women, and children were among their victims. Many of the returning soldiers could not fall back in to their old life styles. First they felt guilt for surviving many of their brothers in arms. Second they were haunted by the atrocities of war. Some soldiers could not go back to the mental state of peacetime. Then there were soldiers Tim O’Brien meant while in the war that he wrote the book “The Things They Carried,” that showed how important the role of story telling was to soldiers. The role of stories was important because it gave them an outlet and that outlet was needed both inside and outside the war in order to keep their metal state in check.
...to gain economically (combined with veterans’ pride and distrust) accounts for the fact that of 830,000 Vietnam veterans with full-blown or partial PTSD, only 55,119 have filed claims, and the medical boards have only believed 28,411 (Triangle Institute study, July 1990) (Bentley, 2005)!
War is hell. War is misery, suffering, pain, and anguish. From the days of rocks and sticks to today’s high tech drones and aircraft carriers one thing above all others has remained the same; war is a terrifying, nightmarish endeavor. Unfortunately for those who fight for their nation, the battlefield does not remain in the far off land where the battle took place. In fact, those warriors bring back that battlefield, festering in the hearts and minds, sometimes long after their uniforms have been put in the closet to collect dust. It should come as no surprise that for a variety of reasons all stemming from combat experience, many of our nations Veterans will act in unconventional or perhaps even illegal ways, in an attempt to cope with the stress of their military service. It may be easy for some to say that these men and women, despite their service, are criminals and should be locked away like any other who breaks the law. However, if rehabilitation is truly a goal of our justice system it would not make any sense to take a group of offenders suffering from the side effects of combat experiences and throw them in prison, which is little better than combat anyway. This is why the advent of Veteran’s courts is so important. Due to their service, and the effects that PTSD and other service related conditions may have on their criminal behavior, Veteran’s courts are not only an honorable way to treat our nation’s defenders, but a way in which to protect them from the negative impact of incarceration. These courts, which are based off of drug and mental health courts, are designed to take less serious offenders, who offenses were related to their service connected conditions and keep them away from incarceration and into treatment (...
A drug subculture involving the use of marijuana and other hallucinogenic drugs began to emerge in mainstream American society in the late ?60s and was loosely associated with an overall atmosphere of political protest concerning the Vietnam War and civil rights. Drug use, including heroin use, was prevalent among soldiers during the Vietnam War and many of them returned addicted. Since that time, the recreational use of drugs, particularly marijuana, has been a constant aspect of youth culture in all social classes.
Anti-depressants, psychiatrists, massages...there are many different things offered in American society today to help individuals fight the stress of life. People are willing to pay hundreds of dollars for medicine and treatments that promise to give them a better life. They will spend hours of their time at a masseuse or a psychiatrist in constant search for relief from the lives they live. During the Vietnam War, however, soldiers were not exposed to any of these traditional "coping mechanisms". Instead, these men were forced to discover and invent new ways to deal with the pressures of war, using only their resources while in the Vietnamese jungle. It was not possible for any soldier to carry many items or burdens with them, but if something was a necessity, a way was found to carry it, and coping mechanisms were a necessity to survive the war. Each soldier had a personal effect, story, or process that helped him wake up each morning and go to battle once again, and it was these personal necessities that enabled men to return home after the war. Stress was caused by the war itself and the continual conditions of battle, as well as the knowledge and guilt of killing another ...
...ust deal with similar pains. Through the authors of these stories, we gain a better sense of what soldiers go through and the connection war has on the psyche of these men. While it is true, and known, that the Vietnam War was bloody and many soldiers died in vain, it is often forgotten what occurred to those who returned home. We overlook what became of those men and of the pain they, and their families, were left coping with. Some were left with physical scars, a constant reminder of a horrible time in their lives, while some were left with emotional, and mental, scarring. The universal fact found in all soldiers is the dramatic transformation they all undergo. No longer do any of these men have a chance to create their own identity, or continue with the aspirations they once held as young men. They become, and will forever be, soldiers of the Vietnam War.
The novel, “The Things They Carried”, is about the experiences of Tim O’Brian and his fellow platoon members during their time fighting in the Vietnam War. They face much adversity that can only be encountered in the horrors of fighting a war. The men experience death of friends, civilians, enemies and at points loss of their rationale. In turn, the soldiers use a spectrum of methods to cope with the hardships of war, dark humor, daydreaming, and violent actions all allow an escape from the horrors of Vietnam that they experience most days.
"The war was over and there was no place in particular to go" (157). Thoughts of sorrow and loss overwhelm the Vietnam veterans upon their return back home. Crushed from the horror of war, they come back to even bigger disappointments and sadness. Instead of the mellow lives they lead before they left their native country and the presence of warm and caring everyday life, most of them encounter empty beds, cold family ambiance and overall loss. Already physically and emotionally defeated, they find betrayal instead of recuperating trust. There is nothing to nourish their depleted and deprived psyches; they do not find anything to rely on. Even in instances of supportive partners, the inevitable horrors of the war haunt them in sleep or come back to them in daydreaming. They all came back with multitude of disorders, predominately with a post traumatic stress disorder with the common symptoms of recurring nightmares, hypersensitivity, avoidance behavior, and intrusive thoughts, feelings and memories-commonly found in war vets. The Things They Carried represents a compound documentary novel written by a Vietnam veteran, Tim O'Brien, in whose accounts on the Vietnam war one encounters graphical depictions of the PTSD. Thus, the stories "Speaking of Courage," "The Man I Killed," "How to Tell a True War Story," "Enemies" and "Friends, " "Stockings," and "The Sweetheart of The Song Tra Bong "all encompass various examples of PTSD.
Our soldiers not only risked life and limb for our country while serving in the Vietnam War, but they continue to suffer immensely. Americans as well as Vietnamese troops and civilians suffered great losses when it comes to casualties. Witnessing first-hand the pain and death of strangers and allies, isn’t something one is likely to forget. Post-Traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been one of the many repercussions of witnessing these gruesome events (Mental Health America). Veterans, their families, and the government have come together in combat in attempts to address the detrimental effects of PTSD.