Soldiers coming home often faced depressing opposition after their hard experience in Vietnam "Life there (Vietnam) seemed to wipe out my past. Coming home people spat on me as if I were something less then human (Cristan)." At the home-front in America the opposition against the war had become so strong people had began to lose sight. They hated not only the war itself but the soldiers who fought it. The harsh readjustment still causes problems today. Within Vietnam Veterans there is higher depression bracket. More drug abuse and higher unemployment. (Helzer).
The Vietnam War was a great lose for America. The war was lost but the people who fought it gain so many memories and emotions. The characters from The Things They Carried and their real counter parts wore many emotional hats. They felt guilt for their actions, wishing they could turn back the clock. They felt anger towards one another, towards the enemy and the situation they were in. They felt depression, a learned helplessness they just can't shake. These emotions can be drawn between the factious book and the real world.
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