This chapter reflects the different aspects of telling a war story to an audience who is unaware of the effects of war. O’Brien emphasizes how a true war story is not moral and does not show normal human decency and models. One specific example of this is when Rat Kiley called his sister a “cooze” because she did not respond to his letter for three months. Kiley needed to blame someone when problems arose and guide his anger somewhere because that’s what his experiences at war made him do. This story clearly supports my thesis as the effects of the horrifying crimes changed the soldier's ability to control feelings such as anger. I ranked this story as Good because this story shows how much characters change as a result of war, such as Rat Kiley and his opinions towards his sister.

Rat Kiley tells the story of a Vietnam War medic who shoots himself in the toe to earn his release from duty. Everyone feels the effects of the operation, but everyone feels like they are chasing ghosts, Mitchell Sanders says. Rat Kiley is haunted by images of body parts, especially at night and imagines bugs chewing through him. "Night Life" refutes O'Brien's contention that men are too afraid of shame to leave the kill-or-be-killed life of war. In the film, Kiley decides to give himself a minor wound instead of facing the decision of killing or being killed.

In this story, a young girl is dancing in her house as the rest of her family was dead. Azar later tried to mock the girl’s dancing until Henry threatened him to at least respect the girl’s dancing. The mockery of the girl’s dancing was a common reaction, as the girl seemed to dance after her family was dead. However, it does not support my thesis on how the war experiences changed the soldier’s thinking, as the soldiers would’ve likely mocked the girl if they weren’t traumatized from the war. Therefore, our ranking of this story was poor as this story did not support our thesis.
OR
Jensen and Strunk, after the incident in Enemies, teamed up in war duties and learned to trust each other. They even made a pact in which if one of them injured their leg, the other would kill them to end the misery. When Strunk was injured, however, Jensen did not want to stick to the pact and was greatly relieved when he heard that Strunk died somewhere near Chu Lai. Jensen’s relief at not having to kill his friend shows that despite the horrors of the war, the soldiers still had morals and respect for one another, which shows that the war changed a lot of characteristics but not their morals. I ranked this story as poor because it does not explain my thesis of how the thought processes of soldiers had changed, rather it shows continuity.

According to O'Brien, the most enduring Vietnam stories are those that fall somewhere between the incredible and the ordinary.
Rat Kiley, who has a penchant for exaggeration, recounts his first mission in the Chu Lai mountains, when he managed an aid station with eight other guys along the Song Tra Bong river. We ranked this story as excellent because Mary Anne Bell loves Vietnamese culture wholeheartedly, whilst Mark Fossie dismisses it. The difference between their experiences sets up a world in which the separate cultures are completely foreign to, and incompatible with, each other. O’ Brien suggests that the characters must select a single cultural identity.

O’Brien shares his story about the time period right before he went to war and what he did when he realized he was drafted. He emphasizes this story as “embarrassing” because going off to war was the first event that started a series of horrifying events and decisions that would impact his life forever, such as killing people. This story exemplifies our claim, as O’Brien was resenting going to war, and even ran away because he didn’t want to leave his family behind and come back as a different person, as war can change a person gravely. This story is ranked as Good because the chapter shows O’Brien before the war and shows how even the thought of war had led him to rebel and run away, showing how much a person’s thought process can change because of war.

In this chapter, O’Brien argues that some stories of the war are peaceful and happy, and he recalls some fun stories with his war mates. However, O’Brien also felt guilty that the war happened a long time ago, yet he still talks and writes stories about his experiences. This story supports the thesis as O’Brien always comes back to the war even after it was over, and shows how much O’Brien’s thoughts have been incorporated into war stories. I ranked this story as fair because while the story connects with the thesis regarding the change in thinking, it does not deeply explain how his thoughts and opinions have changed; the main factor that has changed according to this story is his recollection of the war.
OR
In this story, O’Brien describes the characteristics of the man he killed and shows his overwhelming guilt over killing that man. To honor him, O’Brien tries to give a fake scenario of the dead man’s life. This story supports my thesis, as the horrifying experience of killing a man as a young man really impacted his mental state and led him to feel immense guilt at that time. I ranked this story as fair because it showed the thesis of how war experiences can really change a soldier, especially killing people when it went against his morals.

In this story, Henry Dobbins and his habit of wearing his girlfriend’s pantyhose around his neck before going into an ambush. The pantyhose served as his good luck charm, as he was saved from two near-death experiences. However, when Henry’s girlfriend dumps him, he continues to wear the pantyhose and claims that there is still that good luck charm in the pantyhose. This story shows how soldiers try to reminisce all experiences prior to the war and try to keep a part of their old life with them, which does not tie in with my thesis of how war experiences change a person gravely. I ranked this story as poor because, as sweet as it was, it is hard to connect the thesis with the story.

O’Brien says that in 1975, right before Saigon finally collapsed, he received a seventeen-page, handwritten letter from Bowker saying that he couldn’t find a meaningful use for his life after the war. O’Brien revised the story and has come to terms with it—he says the central incident, about the night on the Song Tra Bong and the death of Kiowa, has been restored. But he contends that he does not want to imply that Bowker did not have a lapse of courage that was responsible for the death of Kiowa. Although “Notes” is the second of three consecutive stories connected to Kiowa’s death, it is more about O’Brien’s own search for authenticity in storytelling than about the death itself.

In this chapter, O’Brien recounts a story about Curt Lemon and his fear of the dentist. This fear was developed before going into war and was still present when the soldiers had to get a dentist's check at the Rocket Pocket. Curt’s fear of the dentist was so grave that he would’ve rather dealt with pain and blood rather than go to a dentist. This statement shows how normalized blood and pain were for the soldiers as they were in the war, how they were more comfortable with traumatic experiences than simple actions, and how their thought processes had shifted to more violent extremes over time.

In this story, Norman Bowker's father hoped that his son would bring home medals from Vietnam. Norman almost won the Silver Star, but blew his chance. He imagines telling his father the story and admitting that he did not act with courage he hoped he might have. The death of Kiowa, a key character in O'Brien's books, fundamentally changes the company's relationships. Kiowa is a soft-spoken, peaceful Native American; he discourages soldiers from excessive violence but also supports them through the difficult decisions war forces them to make. So when Kiowa is killed suddenly, all of the men are affected, specifically Norman Bowker, who worries that he has betrayed his friend.

In this story, Kiowa’s religious beliefs are expressed, especially his devotion to his religion, as he carries his Bible around everywhere, but would not want to be a minister. Kiowa’s religious beliefs express how soldiers didn’t forget their identity and religious beliefs while in war, which does not support my claim about how war changes soldiers and their thinking/beliefs. I ranked this story as poor because this story does not clearly show how soldiers’ thought processes differ; instead, the story shows how some soldiers stay true to their beliefs to keep them sane.

Jimmy Cross and his platoon search for Kiowa's body in a sewage field. Azar begins cracking jokes about "eating shit" and "biting the dirt," and Bowker rebukes him. The men find Kiowa wedged between a layer of mud, take hold of the two boots, and pull. "In the Field" is told in the third person, rather than focusing on one character's account. "Speaking of Courage" gives Bowker's view of Kiowa's death, and "Notes" gives O'Brien's view. The book also allows the other company members to comment.

In this chapter, Jensen and Strunk get into a conflict over who stole a jackknife, and Jensen attacks Strunk to the point where his nose was dislocated. Later that day, Jensen was unable to relax because he was worried about Strunk’s revenge, and his guilt led him to take a hammer and break his own nose, with the goal of settling the conflict between them. Jensen’s internal dilemma and thought process regarding Strunk’s revenge shows how the soldiers, even during the war, had simple emotions such as stress and guilt. This chapter was a clear representation of how simple human emotions were extensive as Jenson went to the extreme of breaking his own nose, which would not be normal if they were not dealing with the extreme cases in war.

After being shot twice, O'Brien vows to exact revenge on the frightened, incompetent Jorgenson. O'Brien and Azar spook Jorgenson as he serves all-night duty. They jerk some ropes, which gives the illusion of the enemy in the bush. O'Brien has a flashback of being shot, thinks about being in shock and he resolves to follow through. Like Curt Lemon and Rat Kiley, he grapples with the notion of war through the lens of his own pain.

In this story, O’Brien discusses the art of storytelling war experiences. He also reveals how, as earlier said, he did not kill the man, he had just died for another reason. His reasoning behind pretending that he killed the man was to let the audience feel what he felt when he experienced seeing that dead man. I ranked this story as poor because it does not tie in with my thesis on how war experiences change a soldier, as O’Brien was simply explaining a story without full accuracy to engage the audience.

In "In the Field," O'Brien returns to the site of Kiowa's death with his daughter Kathleen and an interpreter. Kathleen complains that the land stinks; she can't understand why her father fought in it. He reflects on the way the field could have the power to swallow his best friend. "Field Trip" explores the personal nature of memory. Readers are put in Kathleen's predicament while reading The Things They Carried. Like Kathleen, we are challenged to do what the immature Kathleen cannot—take in the history and allow a piece of it to affect us.

This chapter introduces the soldiers and gives a brief description of what each character carried with them during the war, as well as a little description of the soldiers' lives before the war. The reasoning behind ranking this first was that this chapter shows the relevant and interesting parts of the soldier’s life rather than sharing the boring facts and also showed how each character’s life had changed from prior to the war till now. O’Brien’s goal with this chapter is to show the audience how the characters have changed due to the war, both internally and physically.

This story is a continuation of “The Man I Killed”, as O’Brien’s daughter asks him if he's ever killed a man, and he lies and tells her no. Through this story, O’Brien tries to fully explain the story so he can properly explain every aspect of what happened to his daughter when she’s older. I ranked this story as good because it clearly represents the thesis that the horrifying events of the war - in this case, O’Brien killing a man - changed the thought process of soldiers. O’Brien thinks about that dead man while doing normal everyday tasks and still feels guilt over killing him, which supports the thesis.

In this chapter, Cross and O’Brien meet and Cross recalls Martha, his former love. They had met up after the war and while their encounter had not gone well, Cross was still in love with Martha. Martha and Cross’s relationship before and after the war showed that while they were never together, Cross was just as in love with Martha as he was before. This represents a continuity of the character’s thought processes, as they continued to love and care about the people they had left behind. This was ranked poor because this story did not represent a change in the characters’ thought processes because of the war; it mainly shows continuity.

The film tells the story of World War II soldier O'Brien's first encounter with a dead body. Dave Jensen pokes fun at a dead old man whose right arm has been blown off by an air strike, and asks him to "show a little respect for your elders". In Vietnam, soldiers devised ways to make the dead seem less dead. They kept them alive with stories, such as Curt Lemon's trick-or-treating. O'Brien's girlfriend, Linda, had a brain tumor; she died one day after telling him she was ready. O'Brien's "The Lives of the Dead" explores the intimate relationship between death and life. O'Brien uses his war stories to show that narrative has a larger purpose than simply showing readers what it was like to be a war-torn Vietnam veteran.