Quotation

"They carried their reputations. They carried the soldier's greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to. Its what brought them to the war in the first place. Nothing positive, no dreams of glory and honor, just to avoid the blush of dishonor" (The Things They Carried.77).

This is a great quote that I found from Tim O'Brian as it partially answers one of my questions about why do people kill? Vietnam is infamous for being a needless war, no one really wanted to go to it and yet people still killed and died for it, so what I learned was that it wasn't just to survive as what I originally thought, but more or less just to not face the embarrassment of letting down your fellow soldiers. This book really has showed that there is more to war then just surviving sometimes, its about bond ship, or as O'Brian says, its a love story 

Slang

EM: Enlisted man.

Trung sisters (d. 42 C.E.) Trung Trac and Trung Nhi, were daughters of a powerful Vietnamese lord who lived at the beginning of the first century. (Chapter: The Man I Killed and Ambush)

Tran Hung Dao Famous general who defeated two Mongol invasions in late thirteenth-century Vietnam.  (Chapter: The Man I Killed and Ambush)

Gook: Racial slur for Vietnamese people 

Tot Dong Field in 1426 where the Vietnamese routed the Chinese. Two years later, the Chinese recognized Vietnam's independence. (Chapter: The Man I Killed and Ambush)

48th Viet Cong Battalion One of the most effective Viet Cong military units.

AO: area of operations

Hump: march or hike carrying a rucksack; to perform any arduous task

M-16: the standard U.S. military rifle used in Vietnam from 1966 on. M-60 the standard lightweight machine gun used by U.S. forces in Vietnam

M-79: a U.S. military hand-held grenade launcher

mama san: slang used by American servicemen for any older Vietnamese woman

Quotation Blog

He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war. (The Things They Carried.42).

In This part of the book, the author, Tim O'Brian, talks about his platoon leaders ability to lead after Lavenders death. he explained that he was always concerned with Martha, and would think of Martha almost certainly before he thought of his men. He even kept a picture of her on his person at all times and would take it out and wonder if they could be together. His concerns conflicted those with his men and even though it wasn't his fault for Lavenders death, it was a wake up call for him. It took the passing of one of his squad mates to realize that death is always a step away. He eventually tightened up his squad, meaning tighter formations, less chatter while on patrols. He eventually  even burned the picture of Martha. He was in a war, and in war you have to forget about everything else and focus on making it out. A platoon leaders job is a hard one, one has to take care of her/himself and those 15-45 men and women. One death and you cant help feel like its your fault.

Martha 

War Psychology

 

Reasons I chose this topic: 

I've always been fascinated on the psychological standpoint of war. It reverts any human to a primal state of mind, and makes our conscience question our moral and ethics and those around us. While it also creates a brotherhood between solders that is never seen in a normal civilian lifestyle. 

2 essential questions:

during my reading, to gain a better understanding of my topic, I wish to understand 

• What happens to those during/after war?
• How and why are bonds between soldiers so strong?
• What is the soldiers state of mind during combat

Vocabulary

For my vocab, I will be looking and maybe even taking a deeper look in some cases, of the vocabulary slang used in the military among soldiers. This can be from slang such as

Oscar-Mike or MSR.

Books: