The Things They Carried reaffirmed my thoughts on war in general. I had a pretty limited knowledge base on the Vietnam War before this unit. However, from what I did know, I couldn't really understand why we were there in the first place. Yes, to stop the spread of communism, but it seems to me that there was a lot of unnecessary stuff going on. My personal belief is this: If we are going to fight a war, we need a strong purpose. For example, the Revolutionary War was to gain independence, and the Civil War resulted in reuniting the country. From reading this book, and from what I have learned about Vietnam in the past, I don't think the strong purpose was really there. Especially if you take into account the killing of innocent civilians, which happens in any war.
This is not to take away from the soldiers. It is very honorable that they serve our country. But for their lives to be endangered because of wars with vague purposes is not a good thing. From other war texts I have encountered, many have been from the soldiers' point of view, showing the hardships they have to go through when they are fighting a war, such as Fallen Angels, which The Things They Carried did as well. It helps to gain an understanding of what they are actually going through. However, many times the actual events of the war are glossed over in real life, and texts like The Things They Carried let us know what really goes on. I think that is the most important thing. We should be more engaged with the wars that are happening. Hopefully by doing so we can realize its true purpose, or lack there of, in order to take action to stop any unneccessary fighting.
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