In the 20th century, many young adults and many other men were selected/drafted to enter the war. The Vietnam War began in 1959 and this brutal war ended in 1975. It began with the United States sending military aid and advisors to the southern part of Vietnam. The United States helped the southerners in Vietnam because the northern part of Viet was a communist state and therefore the south wanted to end communism in the north. Furthermore, this war was considered one of the bloodiest wars of the 20th century. It was a very bloody war as more than 58,000 American soldiers died in combat. Additionally, during the decade of direct U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, beginning in 1964, the U.S. Treasury spent more than $140 billion on that war. “It was enough money to finance urban projects in every major American city” (history.com). As this war affected the American war, it also affected the Vietnamese people. This war affected both the Americans and the Vietnamese, as in 1973 the United States began withdrawing its troops. This caused the fall of Saigon, the South Vietnamese capital, to North Vietnamese forces. Just as the war was long and bloody, many of the characters in the novel The Things They Carried experienced many things that were related to the people who actually experienced the war. The very brutality of war causes indelible psychological and emotional changes in most of its participants. Three main characters in The Things They Carried, specifically Tim O'Brien, Jimmy Cross and Mary Anne Bell, are composites of combatants whose lives are forever changed by the experience of war. Jimmy Cross is a character who seems to be struggling to get his precedent. ..... middle of paper ......ke that a person undergoes a 180 change. It seems that Mary Anne Bell is a person who lost her lovely personality after being too involved in the ongoing war . It is said that a war can really change a person to the point that they can lose all their old characteristics or, better yet, their appearance. This quote was used to show how Mary Anne began to behave in sinister and unusual ways. Also, this quote showed how differently she speaks to her boyfriend and how she even finds his joy, everything was and is different. This was unusual as Mary Anne because she obviously loves her boyfriend very much, but what's unusual is that not only does her personality change, but her appearances start to change as well. Mary Anne's appearance was simply different and strange as it seemed that she was simply able to adapt her lifestyle to that of a common soldier.. “