Silver Star

"The Silver Star?" his father might have said.

 "Yes, but I didn't get it. Almost, but not quite." And his father would have nodded, knowing full well that many brave men do not win medals for their bravery, and that others win medals for doing nothing. pg 135

I liked this. Very true statement. We need to make sure we thank veterans for serving our country. It would be impossible to give everyone a medal. Not every brave man gets a medal. Not every hero acknowledged. Knowing this it make me kinda sad. We need to thanks soldiers wherever and whenever we see them.

Tooth Ache

"The dentist couldn't find any problem, but Lemon kept insisting, so the man finally shrugged and shot in the Novocain and yanked out a perfectly good tooth. There was some pain, no doubt, but in the morning Curt Lemon was all smiles." pg.84

It took Lemon a lot of courage to get his tooth pull. He faced his fear of the dentist and he overcame it. I think every one needs to stand up to there fears. Once Lemon over came his fear of the dentist he was able to move on with life and worry about more important things. We need to be like Lemon and face our fears.

Dancing Girl

"There was no music. Most of the hamlet had burned down, including her house, which was now smoke, and the girl danced with her eyes half closed, her feet bare... Later we found her family in the house. They were dead and badly burned." pg. 129

I would not be able to dance if my family was just burned in the very house I lived. I would cry my eyes out. Cry so hard. How could she dance? Let alone not cry? Maybe dancing is how she coped with the pain. Hopefully she had relatives or friends she could go stay with. I wish war would not kill civilians. Sometimes I wish war would not happen at all, but that would not happen.

Listen

"The moral, I mean. Nobody listens. Nobody hears nothin'. Like that fatass colonel. The politicians, all the civilian types. Your girlfriend . My girlfriend. Everybody's sweet little virgin girlfriend. What they need is to go out on LP. The vapors, man. Trees and rocks- you got to listen to your enemy." pg.73

People need to listen. They just can't choice what they want to hear. People can't be selfish in life. It is no fun to have a friend that only talks about himself all the time.

Questions

"What would you do?

Would you jump? Would you feel pity for yourself? Would you think about your family and your childhood and your dreams and all you're leaving behind? Would it hurt? Would it feel like dying? Would you cry, as I did?" pg. 54

This made me think. What would I have done in his situation? I probably would not have jumped. I would have gone to war because I would not be able to live with the guilt if I didn't. I would end up living in fear, fear of everyone. Always thinking the worst.

I'm glad O'Brien decided not to jump because then all the stories in The Things They Carried wouldn't be here for us to read.

Stories

"And sometimes remembering will lead to a story, which makes it forever. That's what stories are for. Stories are for join gin the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story." pg. 36

I really liked O' Brien's discretion of the reason for stories. I love stories sometimes more then the truth. Stories can take you places you want to go. They help you leave and escape the world we live in.

Don't Mention it

"Brave and handsome, all that stuff. Best platoon leader ever." He hesitated for a second. "And do me a favor. Don't mention anything about-" "No," I said, "I won't." pg. 29

I thought this was really ironic because while reading the book you learn that Jimmy feels like it is his fault that Lavender died. Jimmy blamed himself for his death because he was off day dreaming about Martha.

Although this make me wonder if there is something else we do not know about Jimmy. What did he truly mean? Could it be about Martha or the war? Do you think he meant Lavenders death? What do you think?

Win, Lose, Rain check

"You win some, you lose some, said Mitchell Sanders, and sometimes you settle for a rain check. " pg. 10

Sanders said this after Lee Struck drew the number 17, the number of the person to check the caves. Although this phrase is true about everything not just being unlucky. Your not going to win every time. Someone has to lose. Thats fact. Although you can always look forward to the rain check with a chance to redeem yourself.

Ghosts

"They all carried ghosts." pg. 9

This really stuck out to me. How could soldiers be carrying ghosts? Then it hit me. Every soldier carriers the lose of friends and fellow comrades. But there is more. Ghosts also refers to the things the soldiers actually carried from letters, pantyhose to M&M's. All the soldiers held onto things from their past, their life before the war. Most of these ghosts were the comfort the soldiers needed to get through everyday.