Metamorphosis in Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong :: Things They Carried Essays

Metamorphosis in Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong The story of the "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" is no typical Vietnam war story. It is a story that involves no bloods, guts or glory. This story isn't so much about the physical damage caused by war as much as this story is about the emotional changes that effect not only the males. This is a story that with it's elaboration and ornamentation shows the destruction of innocence. This story is about an impossible that came true. The story in its simplest form involves two main characters and the storyteller, Rat Kiley, a well-known truth stretcher. The main people that your interest in this story is concerned with are Mark Fossie, a solider with the team of medics that Rat was with, and his girlfriend Mary Anne Belle, a young woman of barely 17 years of age. Mark Fossie and Mary Anne Belle were childhood sweethearts nearly betrothed at birth. While in Nam, Mark came up with a master plan to fly Mary Anne over to Vietnam to be with him. As men joked one evening about how easy it could be to sneak someone over Mark heard and took this as no joke. He was going to try it! He spent almost all of his money to get her over but it paid off,they were reunited. The picture of a happy couple they spent most of their time together adn for a while things seemed very normal to them. All they had ever known was being a "them" and when they were together things just seemed to be right. How blindly we see things when we are surrounded by the arms of the one we love. She was young and curious and being the only women there she was very flirtatious. Mary Anne was a bright girl and she wanted to learn all that she could about the war and the land. Her new found purpose becae to find as much as she could about the culture while she was in it. She often went for nature walks and began to learn the Vietnamese language/culture . Even her personality began to change. But eventually she began to learn about guns and war. She started to spend her free time cleaning and shooting. This began the downward trail to her becoming a camo wearing jungle woman.