Entry #8

"You can tell a true war story by the way it never seems to end. Not then, not ever" (page 72).

O'Brien is attempting to teach the reader how to tell a true war story from a fake one. Although there may be some truth in all war stories, most over-exaggerate. I believe that this statement is not really an instruction to the reader for how to tell if a war story is real, but is more of the way he feels about war stories. He is telling the reader that the things he experienced while in Vietnam have stayed with him since the moment they happened. He has been permanently scarred because of events he experienced.

When I hear about veterans who have been emotionally disturbed since they returned from war, I feel sorry for them, but sometimes don't understand it. Once i read some of O'Brien's stories and really let them sink in, there is no doubt in my mind why these men are so scarred from war. I think it would be abnormal if a person returned from war and did not have stories and events that stuck with them for the rest of their lives. For me, it is difficult to read about these stories. I can't imagine what it would be like to actually experience them!