'If I Die in a Combat Zone Review\r'

'If I Die in a Combat Z 1 Review The mid-sixties was a series of on red ink changes. It was the height of the paying back culture revolution, the polished secures drive track the drive for higher(prenominal) education, middle class advance manpowert, the â€Å"Great Society”, the industrial community servicing the military, and most nonably, the Vietnam state of state of war and bill of exchange into service. The snip frame of OBriens If I Die in a Combat partition is studyly in 1968 and OBrien was perception the heat from every thing that was release on at this time From the very outset Tim OBrien stressed his opposite to the war in Vietnam.He counterbalance comes out and states at the beginning that, â€Å"The war, I though, was wrongfully conceived and poorly justified”. At this time there was a massive move workforcet against the war. This the upcoming election and Eugene McCarthy openly irrelevant to Vietnam it was no surprise to learn that OBrien supported him. But supporting(a) the antiwar movement was not enough to avoid the draft, in particular for OBrien. With protests rising and the Yippies trioing major protests against the war and draft, gulp was quiesce a major worry among the public.It was cognise that if you were of age and not in college then Vietnam was your coterminous stop. Unless of course individuals could gain deferment through precise issues as did some of OBriens friends at the time. But even with strong opposition, both mor on the wholey and emotionally to the war, OBrien still knew he had a duty and obligation to serve. In sensation instance when OBrien is speaking to a chaplain regarding the war, the chaplain uses a strong example of American Exceptionalism by saying, â€Å"If you accept, as I do, that America is ane helluva great country, strong then, you do as she tells you”.He the. Goes on to say that, â€Å"i did not wan to be a pass, not even an observer to war. But neither did i was to upset a particular balance of the lay I knew, the people I knew, and my own confidential world. ” This again reinforced OBrien that his duty and obligation was more important than his personal belief. This was a common adherence that was found in the midst of OBrien and other soldiers while in Vietnam. This was the bond of the citizen-soldier. The citizen-soldiers were just that. Normal citizens that were turned soldier due to conscription.Because elf the corresponding circumstances the soldiers could yoke unitedly. There wasnt a common bond mingled with the unsympathetic soldiers to the Vietnamese however. Mistreatment of the Vietnamese was very common. specially with OBriens tour of duty being later on the Tet Offensive, distrustfulness of the Vietnamese was rampant. By the beginning of 1968, 90% of southward Vietnam was under communist influence and 1/3 of the population was under communist get a line. This meant that the soldiers did not last who the y could and couldnt trust.The mistreatment of the local population was consistent. Even on one of OBriens missions of a raid on a settlement that turned up one communist weapon, no one in the village spoke up of whos it was. So the orders were handed down and OBriens squad interrogated the villagers, burn the village down and took prisoners to basically act as a human shield to ensure they were not attacked for the that night. This was a common occurrence that occurred repeatedly before, during and after OBriens time of service.The benefits of such actions provided security for the soldiers but cost outweighed the benefits. Because of this treatment, the Vietnamese population was also distrusting of the American troops. suspect among the locals led to decreased support for actions and the communists offers and proposals became more likeable to the local population than the American goals did, based on their actions. Though not mentioned much in OBriens If I Die in a Combat Zone book, racial tensions were still high because of the civil rights movements going on back in the United States.During one instance a majority of the black soldiers mat disgraced and mistreated by a feller lieutenant. The soldiers kept saying that the lieutenants time was coming and he was â€Å"going to get it”. Then it had finally happened. An volley that erupted beneath the lieutenant that tore his lower dead body apart and killed him was not confirmed but rumored as a grenade fired for. One of the black soldiers that did its mean purpose of fetching him out. Besides that, and even with the civil rights movement back home, there did not come along to be much more racial tensions between the soldiers themselves.They were in a common item that bonded them together and they looked past their digressions for the most part. These common words; similar situation and bond, are again what pieces together this estimation of the conscripted citizen-soldier that OBrien indee d was. The conscripted citizen-soldier was different in a way as the volunteer was. A volunteer sign(a) up willingly for the military. This was a common thing for some because they wanted some form of control over their experience in the military.The major difference of the conscripted citizen-soldier is that there was no volunteering. OBrien like many others who opposed involvement, hoped to not be drafted but was. Control of the situation was relinquished and failure to report was punishable. This played the major role in OBriens thoughts of going AWOL but overall, his pride, family and duty spoke louder than his fear and open opposition to the war. This was what OBrien saw in the other conscripted citizen-soldiers then lead to such a strong attachment with him and the men in his unit.Others had normal lives like OBrien and they too were bust away from it and drafted to come to a war that as opposed by so many. There is one quote by Tim OBrien that I feel sums this all up. He st ates, â€Å"Courage is nothing to laugh at, not if it is proper resolution and exercised by right men who know what they do is proper. Proper courage is judicious courage. Its acting wisely, acting wisely when fear would baffle a man act otherwise. It is the endurance of the somebody is spite of fear. In a time that was going through so many changes and problems as the 1960s, I believe that this is a quote that speaks the truth above all else. Not just about the Vietnam war but also the courage of all those who sought-after(a) for equal rights, opposed the war and stood up for what they believed was right even though there were fearful consequences for them taking such a stand and actions. In a world where so much wrong was happening, the citizens, soldiers and activists stood for change, exemplified courage and banded together to do what was right.\r\n'