Each individual carried what was needed for them. It was all based on necessity. Some people
needed things that reminded them of home. Some soldiers had a very terrible experience during
the war and lost dear friends that they had become good friends with them. People like Jimmy
Cross and Norman Bowker carried guilt. Jimmy Cross felt as if though his love back home made
him forget the reason he was in Vietnam. A soldier had gotten shot because he wasn’t doing his
duty. “He felt shame. He hated himself. He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a
consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a
stone in his stomach for the rest of the war.” Norman felt responsible for Kiowa’s death and a
result after the war he had committed suicide. In the chapter “Notes” it tells us how Kiowa wrote
a letter to Tim and explains how he felt guilty about Kiowa and now after the war he feels
worthless and helpless. He didn’t receive the Silver Star because he didn’t have enough
courage and strength to save Kiowa.
Mary-Anne changed during the war. She first came just as a regular girl and she was
very curious about the war. Then after a couple of weeks she completely changed as a person
which shows the harsh realities of war and how it can completely change a person. She began
to leave the camp to go to night ambushes. She completely became a different person. “Her
body seemed foreign somehow-too stiff in places, too firm where the softness used to be. The
bubbliness was gone. The nervous giggling, too. When she laughed now, which was rare, it was
only when something struck her as truly funny. Her voice seemed to reorganize itself at a lower
pitch.” Mark Fossie barely recognized her now. When he found out she was with Greenies later
he was really upset. Then she acted as if she was the one that belonged to Vietnam and the
soldiers didn’t. Mary Anne wanted to stay in Vietnam and she did.