The Hardships Facing Vietnam War Soldiers in Tim OBrien’s Going after

The Hardships Facing Vietnam War Soldiers in Tim OBriens Going after Cacciato and In the Lake of the Woods The Vietnam War was, mentally and physiologically, one of the most brutal the United States has ever participated in. Our soldiers had to undergo day-after-day miseries and sufferings which wore on them in body and mind. Dysentery was a common cause of physical wasting. Other diseases combined with the continuous rain and mud caused flesh to bunk and made daily life that much more insufferable. Long periods of tedium would be broken by unexpected guerilla attacks or bosom traps. The enemy rarely materialized long enough to be actively fought or even identified. Equally uncertain as who they were fighting was the answer to the mind of what purpose they were fighting and dying for.All of these hardships the soldiers faced caused an overwhelming sense impression of hopelessness and constant fear. To counter this sense of despair, the soldiers had many ways of head with or avoiding the reality of the war. Tim OBrien, with Going after Cacciato and In the Lake of the Woods, addresses th...