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Love
Lieutenant Jimmie Cross had the biggest love for a girl back home named Martha. He loved her more than any thing. Was she a virgin? Did she love him too? -
The Man in The Tunnel
Every day someone new had to crawl through the sewage tunnel to make sure no one was in there. It was a scary job. Jimmy Cross stared into it day dreaming about Martha when Ted Lavender was shot in the head. Jimmie blamed himself for it because he was too focused on loving a girl who would never love him back. -
Sweets
Not everything about the book was sad. There was one story about a man who was leaning on a tree just minding his own business when a little Vietnamese child walked up to him. Instead of killing the small boy he looked at him as a kid and gave him a candy bar. Beautiful. -
Silence
Vietnam was not an easy war to fight. Especially if you were apart of the watch group. There was a group of people designated to listen. For seven days straight three men had to sit at the top of a mountain and listen. They couldn't make a single sound and had to just lay there for seven days. Most often, they would come running down the mountain insane. -
Puppy Love
Before Ted Lavender was killed he took in a puppy. Not long after someone took the puppy and strapped a bomb to him. Ted Lavender was devastated. -
Dealing
The hardest part of surviving Vietnam for Tim O'Brien was having to deal with everyone dying. This is one of the stories he finishes with. He talks about war being about love and forgiveness. It was a really beautiful story.
