Reaing #2 Question #3

[Jarrett Talley]

Enemies have a great mental effect on soldiers, but what enemies have
a greater effect: the real enemies, or the enemies that the soldiers
create within themselves?

[Conley]

Both the "Charlie" and enemies created amongst each other can take a
toll on a soldier's mind. The enemies that soldiers form in their
platoon have the greatest effect on them because they are always
together. They have to be together all day every day searching for the
real enemy. Working together can cause tremendous stress on the
soldier since he never knows when his enemy in the platoon might try
to get revenge or hurt him. The fight between Dave Jensen and Lee
Strunk ended with Jensen brutally beating Strunk and breaking his
nose. After the fight, Jensen became extremely worried that his new
enemy, Strunk, might try to get revenge or even kill him; "In any
other circumstance it might've ended there. But this was Vietnam,
where guys carried guns, and Dave Jensen started to worry" (O'Brien
62). The quote shows how Jensen knew that Strunk could seriously hurt
him if he wanted too. With an internal enemy, you now have to put up
with two enemies, both may want to kill you. Having Two different
enemies adds more mental stress to the soldier, such as Jansen. They
wonnder which one will strike and how; "...the strain began to create
problems. Jensen couldn't relax. Like fighting to different wars, he
said. No safe ground: enemies everywhere" (O'Brien 63). There was no
where he could go to feel safe because Jansen felt surrounded by
enemies, inside and out. It finally caused him to lose control; He
broke his nose to even the terms between him and Strunk.

[Shelly]

As Jacob said, the enemies that the soldiers have within their own
group seem to have the most effect on them because they're always
together. When Jensen and Strunk get into the fight over the missing
jackknife, it creates an unspoken tension between them, which could
potentially result in a less than satisactory performance in combat or
just poor relationships between the men. "There were no threats , no
vows of revenge, just a silent tension between them that made Jensen
take special precautions...he kept his back covered; he avoided
situations that might put the two of them alone together" (O'Brien
60). Although the actual enemies, the Vietnamese soldiers, also have
an intense impact on the soldiers, the issues that they have with each
other, within the troop, cause more problems and have more of an
effect.

On Jan 23, 9:26 pm, Jarrett Talley <jtal...@brvgs.k12.va.us> wrote:

[Lindsey]

The enemies the soldiers create within themselves are by far the most
severe. The soldiers are of course scared for their lives every step
they take so it's hard for them to trust anyone after so many months
fighting against other human beings with thoughts and feelings just
like themselves. Like after the fight between Strunk and Jensen,
Jensen goes insane with worry that Strunk is out for revenge. Every
move Strunk made, Jensen was sure to know. "Even in times times of
relative safety, while the rest of us took it easy, Jensen would be
sitting with his back against a stone wall, weapon across his knees,
watching Lee Strunk with quick, nervous eyes" shows just how paranoid
Jensen was (O'Brien 63). Really, what else could a normal person
expect from a war soldier? Just think about it, if you were in a war
being shot at every single day of your life and all of a sudden
there's a conflict with someone on your side, how could you be able to
just look past it? The real enemies are the cause of this internal
enemy but the Vietnamese soldiers are the least of a man's
thoughts.

[carla downs]

Jacob made a great argument, but I disagree. I think the real enemies
have the greatest effect on the soldiers because the real enemies are
surrounding them on their territory. At least you’re able to
recognize and can trust your own men. The soldiers are there as a
team; fighting the same enemy. “Dave Jenson and Lee Strunk did not
become instant buddies, but they did learn to trust each other. As
far as I could tell they were serious” (O’brien 65). When men get
together and have the same goal, they will stick together even through
their differences. The real ememies have a greater mental effect on
the soldiers because the enemies are in disguise. Since, the enemy is
unrecognizable, a soldier can become paranoid and cause himself and
his team to be at risk. The soldiers seem to be more scared of the
traps set up by the Vietnamese, than the pranks within their group.
It’s similar to a bunch of brothers that have their differences, but
there is a bond formed when time is spent together. When their life
is on the line they fear enemies in bushes, not the ones by their
side.

[Casey]

I agree with Lindsey that the enemies within the soldiers are the
hardest to face. I also think that these inner fears and worries come
from the real enemies, Vietcong. The Vietcong were the ones that the
soldiers were physically battling daily, but because of the
environment they are surrounded in, the soldiers development inner
enemies. Like when Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen are fighting, "It was
about something stupid--a missing jackknife-- but even so the fight
was vicious" (O'Brien 62). Jensen was upset over something small, but
to him this knife was one of the only things he owned in the war. He
had developed a fear that his own property was going to be taken away,
like his life, and it seems everything was extremely precious.
The soldiers lives were threatened everyday from the outside and that
brought about anxiety within themselves, that was hard to manage. This
formed inner enemies that almost controlled the behavior of the
soldiers. The fear that lived inside them caused more pain in the long
run than any Vietcong soldier could have done.

[Zoe Kopin]

I agree with Casey. I believe that the worst enemies are the
ones which the soldiers create inside themselves, but that these
enemies are created as a result of the soldiers' fear of the
Vietcong. The soldiers are in constant danger, making them unable to
think rationally. To them, everything is seen as a threat, such as
when Dave Jensen begins to worry that Lee Strunk may seek revenge.
"It was mostly in his head. There were no threats, no vows of revenge,

just a silent tension between them that made Jensen take special

precautions" (O'Brien 63). Jesen is so used to everyone around him
being a threat, so he makes himself believe that Strunk is also a
threat. This is all in Jensen's mind, and is a result of the constant
fear of war.
I also believe that the enemies which the soldiers create within
themselves may be a source of distraction from the war. Jensen is
fearful of Strunk, and this is almost constantly on his mind. I
believe that Jensen is devoting his thoughts to the situation with
Strunk in order to escape his fears of the real enemy. Jensen
probably knows that he is not in any danger from Strunk, but just uses
this "fear" as a way to distract himself from what is going on around
him.

[Madison Stanley]

I agree with Lindsey, that the enemies created in the minds of the
soldiers are more severe. However, I also agree with Jacob because
soldiers can choose to make the Vietcong the most threatening enemies
in their mind. The two can go hand in hand. Soldiers involuntarily
decide who they mentally build up a fear towards based on their
experiences, but each man's fear has the possibility to be just as
strong and influential as another's, even if the enemy is not the
same. One man who is shot at by a Vietcong may become paranoid about
one of the Vietcong ambushing him, while at the same time, a soldier
can become paranoid about one of his own fellow soldiers. The fear of
the Vietcong enemy has the potential to be just as effective as any
other enemy the mind conjures up.
When Dave Jensen lets his fear of Lee Strunk build in his head, he
convinces himself that his most dangerous enemy is one of the very men
who is supposed to be on his side. "It was mostly in his head. There

were no threats, no vows of revenge, just a silent tension between

them that made Jenson take special precautions" (O'Brien 62, 63).
Jenson's paranoia chooses Stunk as the enemy.
The enemy in the war is the human brain, which battles paranoid
thoughts and an extremity of fear which it is not used to. The brain
can convince itself that the enemy is anyone, including the real
Vietcong enemy, or those who would normally be seen as a friend.

> > run than any Vietcong soldier could have done.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Natese]

Not forgiving yourself for any reason is enough to make anyone not
forgive themselves. Creating enemies within yourself is not only
bothersome worrying about others but the effect could wear down on a
person over time. I agree with Shelly when she states that the enemy
of the Vietnamese are all around them, but they are surrounded more by
the troop, if the soldier has enemies within the troop, how will her
survive on the battlefield? This is displayed through the actions of
Jensen and Strunk. When they get in this huge altercation over a
jackknife, and Strunk gets severe injuries, Jensen becomes filled with
fear that his own fellow soldier will kill him. He wasn't afraid of
the enemy, the Vietcong solider that could have been hiding behind a
tree, but he was afraid for his life, creating not only an enemy with
Strunk, but making him so filled with guilt he "...borrowed a pistol,
gripped it by the barrel, and used it like a hammer to break his own
nose"(O'Brien 63). This was done because if he had not injured
himself, it would eat him up on the inside for not being able to
forgive himself.

[Ben]

I agree with Andre, John, Robin, Madison, Casey, Lindsey and Zoe that
O’Brien is not a coward for going to war. Putting your life on the
line fighting for your country is one of the bravest things a person
can do. Even though O’Brien is afraid that he will be shamed for
dodging the draft he also owns up to the risk that he could die and
end his potential in life. “I was too good for this war” (O’Brien
41). O’Brien clearly feels that his death would be a greater waste in
war than the average person’s. However, he understands that his
country needs him to fight and so he does go to war.

[Ben]

I agree with Lindsay in the fact that the enemies generated in their
minds are far more prevalent and inadvertently more fatal. As seen in
the chapter Enemies, the silent tension between Lee Strunk and Dave
Jensen slowly wears away at Jensen and causes him to become paranoid.
This increases Jensen’s risk to be killed in combat because his mind
is not devoted to killing Vietcong and protecting his unit. “On
patrol he was careful to keep track of Strunk’s whereabouts” (O’Brian
63). Jensen is not certain that he can trust Strunk, and this
hesitation could get them both killed in combat.