Question: How is love found in war?

War is known to be one of the worst things human nature has to offer. It is filled with violence, hatred, and sadness. Everyone in this world is affected by war one way or another, and everyone has an opinion on the subject as well. Out of all this chaos that war may stand for, there is one thing that is stands out about it; Love.

The Things They Carried is a great example of war. This book is about a unit of 20-30 people in the Vietnam War overcoming fear. They all cared about each other, even when some might despise one another. No matter their negative feelings for another soldier, they still all love each other and would die for one another and that is what gets them through the day. When Bowker and Kiowa spoke about Ted’s death, Bowker gets upset at Kiowa for speaking of such a traumatic experience. After Bowker told Kiowa to “Shut up.”, Kiowa asked Bowker to talk. Even after Bowker told him to shut up, he said to Kiowa, “One thing I hate is a silent Indian.” This shows that even Bowker wouldn’t want to talk about Ted’s death, he would still care about the
effects it left on Kiowa. In war, soldiers care about one another no matter what their feelings toward them is.

Robert Maddalozzo, a Sergeant of the marines came to visit our class. He is a Iraq war veteran that was in Iraq for two years, one as a marine and another as a
Sergeant. When he spoke of his experience, he showed us what he brought with him.
He showed that he carried pictures of his family as well as his girlfriend and more personal items that he cherished. This shows he used the love for his family and friends to get him through and knowing they cared about him and were there for him when he came back home. He also shared a story of when he would go up to the patrol tower with five to six other men, they would stink from not being able to wash their clothes, hating each other to be with one another, but in the end they would all die for each.

In the documentary “Little Dieter Needs to Fly” shows a deep connection between two soldiers. It is about two men who were in Vietnam and get captured by the Vietcong. When captured, they had to stratagize to escape. With one minute and twenty seconds, they got out of their cells and got in a cabin and grabbed a few guns. Killing all of the guards, they escaped. Together, they ran bare foot in the jungle and grew closer then ever. Then they built a raft to go down a river to Thailand. On that raft, they were starving and just hoping they would get to Thailand soon. When they heard a sound, they knew it was a waterfall and jumped off the raft. Seeing their raft fall into a million pieces, they looked at each other, pale as ghost, knowing that they almost just died. This tragic event let them become closer then their own families and brothers, and no one could ever understand what their bond contained.

In conclusion, love cannot be looked as just romantic. It should be also thought as the
caring personality toward each other, like a family. Although war is a cataclysm in itself, it has some good to it as well. It is the people that surround you, protecting you no matter what happens. Love is what got many of the soldiers through tough times and let them overcome the fear they knew they
had to pursue.

Bibliography

O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried: a Work of Fiction. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990

Maddalozzo, Robert

Little Dieter Needs to Fly. Dir. Werner Herzog. By Werner Herzog and Werner Herzog. Perf. Dieter Dengler. Werner Herzog Filmproduktion, 1998. Film.