Separate Wars, Similiar Experiences

The Vietnam and Iraqi wars that America has participated are mostly seen as senseless wars to the American people. The wars were fought for two different reasons yet you can draw and compare experiences from American veterans of the war. Not only have I had experiences with my father, and lived with him when he returned from the war, but every soldier handles themselves after their war by taking the best path for them. Whether it is to talk about it to others, or go to therapy, they find a way to make it best for them. Kobe Bazelle is an American soldier who keeps a blog and talks in Iraq. The blog he talks in is not only a coping mechanism for him but he's also helped others along the way. Kobe states "sometimes people never know how they are helping others" (14:18) regarding a woman who emailed him on how she lost her son in the war before he made it home. In Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried”, Obrien used the book he wrote to cope with his own struggles from the Vietnam War. O’Brien states in the book “I can be brave. I can make myself feel again.” (P. 172 O’Brien). The quote deeply underlines the extreme emotional and conscious pressure he had put on him, and still could be there. Both examples serve as how both soldiers from different wars can relate on the same level, and can tell their story to us.

Simple decisions in time of war can put one or more people in danger. For example, Bazelle talks in his blog about how a stupid placement of ammo almost cost him and others their lives. "Having the ammo on the outside of the vehicle was the worst fucking idea ever and whoever had that idea should be fucking shot.” The decision was based off orders, and they could do nothing about it. In “The Things They Carried” Lt. Jimmy Cross followed orders, into where he put Kiowa in a deadly position. Kiowa later lost his life, leaving Lt. Cross with nothing but shame and gut eating guilt. "But it was a war, and he had his orders...A stupid mistake. That's all it was, a mistake, but it had killed Kiowa"(P. 161 O’Brien) Mistakes are made even in life threatening situations, yet life goes on whether a person moves on and recovers, or being slowly drowned by their own guilt. Two very different wars, yet the same pain and encounters are shared.