The Things They Carried

The author Tim O'Brien was born in Austin, MN. At the age of ten the family moved to Worthington. After graduating from Macalester College he was drafted into the Army. He served in the Vietnam war. From his experiences in Vietnam he wrote the book The Things They Carried. After college and before Vietnam he drives up to Rainy Lake thinking he might skip the war and move to Canada. He meets an older man who is closing up his resort for the winter. Tim helps the man painting and fixing doors and chopping wood. One day the old man takes him fishing but they don't fish. The old man takes the boat to the Canadian side thinking Tim will escape. Tim decides he would embarrass his family if he went to Canada so he stays. He feels he is a coward for going to Vietnam. In the beginning of the book he describes his platoon mates by talking about what they carried. One guy has a photo of a girl named Martha. One Native American guy carries a Bible. Another guy carries the pantyhose of a girl. Some of his platoon were killed by bullets or mines. In the book he never describes their location. Although the war was over in the 1970's he didn't publish the book until 1990 which was probably a smart idea. I  wonder if high school kids even know about the Vietnam war anymore. We had a good discussion about this book today at the Winona Public Library. I feel this is a book that is difficult to read but it is the responsibility of all U.S. citizens to read it.