In the twentieth century many young adults and many other men were drafted/drafted into war. The Vietnam War began during the period of 1959 and this brutal war ended in 1975. It began with the United States sending aid and military advisors to the southern part of Vietnam. The United States helped the southerners of Vietnam because the northern part of Viet was a communist state, so the south wanted to end communism in the north. Furthermore, this war was said to be one of the bloodiest wars to have taken place in the twentieth century. It was a very bloody war because more than 58,000 American soldiers died in combat. Moreover, during the decade of direct participation of the US military in Vietnam, at the beginning of the year 1964, the US treasury spent more than 140 billion dollars on this war. “This money was enough to finance urban projects in every major American city” (history.com). As this war affected Americans, it also affected the Vietnamese people. This war affected both the Americans and the Vietnamese, because in 1973 the United States began to withdraw its troops. This caused the South Vietnamese capital, Saigon, to fall into the hands of North Vietnamese forces. Just as the war was long and bloody, many characters in the novel The Things They Carried experienced many things that were relatable to people who actually faced the war. The very brutality of war causes indelible psychological and emotional changes in most of its participants. The three main characters of The Things They Carried, specifically Tim O'Brien, Jimmy Cross, and Mary Anne Bell, are a collection of combatants whose lives are forever changed through the experience of war. Jimmy Cross is a character who seems to have trouble getting his precedent. ..... middle of the card ......k and a person experiences a 180 degree change. It seems that Mary Anne Bell is someone who lost her cute personality after getting too involved in the ongoing war. It has been said that a war can actually change a person so much that he loses all his old characteristics or better yet his appearance. This quote was used to show how Mary Anne was starting to act dark and unusual. Also, this quote shows how different her conversation with her boyfriend is and how she finds joy, everything was and is different. This was unusual for Mary Anne because she obviously loves her boyfriend very much, but what was unusual is that not only did her personality change, but her appearance also began to change. Mary Anne's appearance was simply different and strange because she seemed to be able to adapt her lifestyle to that of a common soldier.. “