Connections and Differences

Overall, the stories told by the veterans and those in Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried are pretty similar with only a few differences that really stand out. The way the soldiers handle their fears were fairly similar, "Among the necessities or near necessities were... chewing gum, candy, and cigarettes..." (O'Brien, 2) Rob Miller talked about how a friend of his sent him a package of cigarettes while in Iraq and he started smoking again, and Kobe Bazelle talked about a close encounter he had with an enemy and how he smoked immediately after. The reality of war and death shocks Kiowa and some of the veterans. When Kiowa was describing Ted Lavender's death he seemed fairly surprised that Ted's death wasn't very theatrical, that it just kind of happened. "...it was like watching a rock fall, or a big sandbag or something- just boom, then down- not like the movies where the dead guy rolls around and does fancy spins..." (O'Brien, 6). This is also how Truman Muir Irwin describes Wise's death, he said it all happened so fast and that he looked over and he was just covered in blood, he also talked about how it still doesn't feel like reality. One difference that stood out to me was what the soldiers choice in reading, "Kiowa always tool along his New Testament..." (O'Brien, 9). In the book, the soldiers carried religious readings but Kobe Bazelle talked about how he subscribed to as many magazines as he could before he left so he wouldn't get bored, he subscribed to things he had never even heard of and got a lot of grief from the people around him, Truman Muir Irwin talked about how he was watching an episode of Friends when an explosion went off, and Rob Miller talked about how they were blasting music into a city when they were moving through a city. The things they talk about are obviously a little more up to date than what is in the book.