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Fire Attack By Frederick Downs Summary

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Written by Frederick Downs, this journal is based on the author as a Lieutenant who documents his experiences in the Vietnam War. It starts off by explaining his perspective as he arrives in Vietnam on the date of September 8, 1967. His first impression of the airfield was that it did not look like a war zone, but he knows that there will be a lot of violence. He is going to go to Pleiku in South Vietnam and the truck driver starts to tell him about the place. After that, Downs is flown to the headquarters of the 3rd Brigade. He later on accompanies a squad on a search and destroy mission. They burn houses and buildings and they capture some of the denizens, believed to be Vietcong. The Lieutenant, after getting used to operating in the military …show more content…

In need of supplies, Sells order a platoon to get water and to not look for Vietcong under command by Downs. Suddenly, there is a U-shaped ambush. One guy is wounded and another dead. Downs manages to retreat. Another platoon is ambushed, so platoon 3 is trying to help Downs’. Dragon-six captures a Vietcong prisoner. On December 2nd, the 1st platoon is taken to the Firebase. On December 5th, it is decided to leave the Firebase, but Downs questions this saying that they had already got to know the area and why leave now? Downs’ platoon returns to Montezuma and is mobilized south of the bridge. For capturing the Russian mortars, Downs is given a day off. He spends his day catching a flight to Pleiku to see what is there. He notices how poor and dirty the Vietnamese people are and how they are looking through dumps to find scrap metal to pound to make stuff. On December 23rd, the platoon returns to its position on the bridge. The AVRN, Rueto walks out of the defense perimeter for a second and gets shot. The soldiers start shooting at a village and the next day a girl comes out with bullets shot at her. The medics try to evacuate her while Downs and his men do not want to help

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In addition to their own conversations, the author explains how Erik himself cornered the drill sergeant about the war. He explained how he believed that the war should not endanger people without certain principles at stake (36). This shows that neither of the men wished to partake in this battle because of the harm it has done already, and the causes of the casualties were not large enough to provide an accurate reason for why so many had died. While in combat in Vietnam, O’Brien depicts many detailed scenes where young and innocent Vietnamese people were harmed by the Alpha Company and other U.S. troops. After an undetailed scene, O’Brien and his troop mates gathered around a young Vietnamese woman in an NVA uniform.

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“The Things They Carried” The narrative “The Things They Carried” by Tim O'Brien shows the man versus self conflict of the inexperienced Lieutenant Jimmy Cross and his troop in the Vietnam war. O’Brien tells the story of the lieutenant’s struggles, sacrifices and transformation that the war inflicted on him. Struggle was no stranger to Lieutenant Jimmy Cross or his grunts deep in the swamps of Vietnam. They struggled across the lush jungle with the physical burden of carrying all the possessions they would need to eat, sleep, and live in the foreign mud, or at least everything the US Army found fit to issue them for such a task.

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Men went through so many tasks during the Vietnam War physically and mentally. The beginning chapters focus on training for war and being prepared for the worst. For example, when there is a sergeant in a room with the marines. The sergeant walks to the chalk board and writes “AMBUSHES ARE MURDER AND MURDER IS FUN” (36-37). The

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He realizes the ineffectiveness of the Vietnam War. The moral ambiguity in this being that he is risking his life when he shouldn’t be

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In A Viet Cong Memoir, we receive excellent first hands accounts of events that unfolded in Vietnam during the Vietnam War from the author of this autobiography: Truong Nhu Tang. Truong was Vietnamese at heart, growing up in Saigon, but he studied in Paris for a time where he met and learned from the future leader Ho Chi Minh. Truong was able to learn from Ho Chi Minh’s revolutionary ideas and gain a great political perspective of the conflicts arising in Vietnam during the war. His autobiography shows the readers the perspective of the average Vietnamese citizen (especially those involved with the NLF) and the attitudes towards war with the United States. In the book, Truong exclaims that although many people may say the Americans never lost on the battlefield in Vietnam — it is irrelevant.

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He talks not only about his experiences but, also his platoon members experience. War degrades the lives of war and post-war soldiers by completely ripping them from their normal lives and into war. The Vietnam war derailed many lives, as people were forced into a foreign land to fight an unknown war. The 60’s were a changing time, young adults were looking to succeed and rebel the norms.

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The rest of the platoon comes over, except for Jimmy Cross and the young soldier. They finally get Kiowa out. It 's horrible. They clean the body off and call in to the radio to get someone to come take the body away.

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With unforgiving terrain and the seemingly never ending destruction, the environment of war can be the biggest challenge faced. The constant presence of death and the savage actions of men, the jungle and villages of Vietnam that was home to many families can become a nightmare within days. The book says, “I walked away. People were not supposed to be made like that. People were not supposed to be twisted bone and tubes that popped out at crazy kid’s-toys angles.

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This occurrence during his service as a soldier brought him back to reality that he was in. He finally feels the guilt and pain that the other men have been carrying with them about this incident and about Vietnam in

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He has a conflict between his duty to his country and the preservation of himself and his platoon. Simpson has a chance to leave Vietnam, but he is pressured into extending his stay for a month. He wants to make sure he lives but he also gains a bond of brotherhood with his men so he does not want to leave them behind. Simpson struggles with the conflict created by his loyalty to, and understanding of, his men and his Sergeant's persistent ambition that threatens their safety. Lieutenant Carroll is the leader of Richie’s platoon.

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The book explores many of the platoon members' experiences in Vietnam and what they carry with them throughout their experiences. O’Brien gives a gruesome and realistic glimpse into what the reality of fighting in this war was. He realistically conveys how the members of the platoon felt, “Their principles were on their feet. Their calculations were a biological. They had no sense of mission” (O’Brien 14).

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The soldiers in the Vietnam War are portrayed as losing themselves in the chaos and trauma of combat. Through the stories of the soldiers and their experiences, O’Brien explores the ways in which war strips away one's sense of identity and humanity. The author himself is depicted as losing himself in the war. O'Brien served in the Vietnam War, and his experiences inspired much of the book. Through the character of Tim O'Brien, the author explores the ways in which war can strip away one's sense of self and purpose.

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