Today when we were talking about the love letters in class I chose not to share this but I think it is very important in understanding the mental state of men at war and how they cope with it. To explain this I will use an example from my family. I have two cousins, A and J, (brothers) that went to Iraq. A went and left his wife behind. When J went he did not leave anyone behind and he just had one or two friends and family to write to. This is important because A had someone to write to, a reason to get through the war and something to live for. J, started writing to family members he rarely ever talked to in the past and he had a "girlfriend." J, like the LT. in The Things They Carried, created a reason to survive.
War zones can really mess with a person's mind and cause them emotional turmoil. Without a reason to make it through, to go on every day, a person exposed to the toils of war may find themselves in an unhealthy state of mind. Self preservation allows that person to create a reason to go on and to make it through. I believe this is what was happening with our LT in O'Brien's story.
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