Rat Kiley and Linda

Rat Kiley just lost it like Mary Anne. Not exactly like she did, but pretty close. On page 212, Rat Kiley "took off his boots and socks, laid out his medical kit, doped himself up, and put a round through his foot." The war made everyone crazy, but it seems to have hit O'Brien's friends particularly hard. On another note, it's sad that Linda died so young, but I didn't understand at first why she was connected to Vietnam. It's the same as Ted Lavender. All the men talked about him and told stories after he died. They knew it wouldn't bring him back, but he lived on in a way through the stories. O'Brien wrote this book to pass on stories about Vietnam to younger generations and civilians of his own generation. The stories don't bring his comrades back to life, but they're all honored in the stories. Their experiences live on longer than their lifetimes and O'Brien's through the novel, and that the reason for the book.