I think the chapter “Friends” speaks the most to me so far. This is because it goes along with my theme that war can drastically change people. It caused Jensen to break his own nose over some made up fear. It also shows that people can become friends over the most unlikely situations, such as a brutal fight. I don’t have any experience with war but reading this really shows how strenuous it can be and how people can be changed by it.
Quote: “Later we heard Strunk died somewhere over Chu Lai, which seemed to relieve Dave Jensen of an enormous weight.” Page 66, last sentence.
This relates to the pact they had with each other. That if either of them got injured the other would have to try and end their life so that they wouldn’t have to live crippled. This became difficult for Jensen and Strunk though, they became such goof friends that Jensen couldn’t kill Strunk. So in the end when Strunk does die, Jensen is relieved he didn’t have to regret his decision of leaving him alive.
Mary Anne Bell is the one that stands out to me. How much she changed throughout the time we learned about her was what really stood out to me. She’s also smart and adaptive, when she first reached Vietnam she tried to learn as much as she could about the place. The guys taught her everything they knew, not knowing that she would one day use these tactics. I have a lot of respect for her going out on her own and learning the way of Vietnam and being at peace with herself. I thought it was also very interesting how Rat referred to the relationship between Mary and the land of Vietnam, how she was basically connected to it.
Mary Anne stood out to me as well. I thought it was crazy how much she changed in such a short amount of time. She became real connected to Vietnam and her surroundings that she acted liked the natives, and did not want to leave. She knew nothing about Vietnam when she arrived, but when she started learning, that is all she wanted to do, and let herself be enveloped in it.
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