Ted Lavender's death was not his fault at all. Jimmy Cross was only a youth and had not yet reached the maturity necessary to bear the weight of the role of first lieutenant during the war. Jimmy Cross daydreams and fantasies of Martha's letters and photos. Allow him to escape the war, think about life at home. The Vietnam War was a very repetitive life because they had no clear mission. They just compared village to village doing the same things over and over again. Ted Lavender's death was a great tragedy of the Vietnam War and was not First Lt. Jimmy's fault.