Summary:

In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, a story written by a Vietnam veteran a chapter stood out to me.  In the chapter “How to Tell a True War Story”, O’Brien talks about the differences between story truth and happening truth.  The example that O’Brien uses is a man jumping on top of a grenade to save the life of his fellow soldiers.  In the story truth, a man sees a grenade and decides to jump on top of the grenade.  He took the blow and lost his life in order to save his friend’s lives.  In the happening truth, the man did the same thing and jumped on top of the grenade.  He had a very unselfish attitude, but the men he tried to save still died.

Response:

The reason this chapter stood out to me is because of the bravery used by the soldier.  In both stories I respect his bravery.  In the story truth, his unselfish act saved the lives of his whole platoon.  He could have easily just wished that someone else jumped on the grenade and he could have saved his own life, but he stepped up to the plate and died for his fellow soldiers.  In the happening truth, the soldier jumped on the grenade, but it did not go as planned.  Everyone still died, but the way the soldier tried his best to save everyone makes me respect him and his decisions.