SAD:(

page 188:
"Sanders shrugged. 'People change. Situations change. I hate to say this, man, but you're out of touch. Jorgenson- he's with us now.'
' And I'm not?'
Sanders looked at me for a moment.
'No,' he said. ' I guess you're not.' "
After reading this, I felt sorry for Tim. He left because he was hurt. He didn't choose to leave, and when he talks to Sanders he finds out he isn't one of them anymore. Its like he was divorced from the group. Before they were his family, and now he is almost like an outcast since he was gone for so long. Also, I know that before they must have held it against Jorgenson, but now Tim is gone, so they side with Jorgenson. It really is sad because I know how it feels to lose friends. Even though Tim hasn't completely lost them as friends, he must feel some sort of betrayl because they are acting like they like the person who hurt him more than him. I think this is harsh of Sanders to say especially since Tim did not want to be relieved from duty. This part stuck out to me because I feel sorry easily.

Why Is It Important??

When reading this book, I was wondering why what the soldiers carried was so important. It is interesting and all but I wasn't sure why it was such a focus of this book. I figured it out when I read about the young man that Tim killed. When I read about how they found "a pouch of rice, a comb, fingernail clipper, a few soiled piasters, a snapshot of a young woman standing in front of a parked motorcycle" (page 123), I felt almost sad. When you see what they carried, you learn about who that person was and a little about their life. If a soldier died, what they carried could identify them and make them human, not just a soldier or the enemy. I think that Tim feels worse when he begins to learn about the man because he realizes that this guy is in the same boat as him. I think that by reading this part I see why what they carried was so important to them. Also, I think what they carried for personal reasons would take their mind off the war. I know if I was in war I would want to escape even just a few minutes from it and put myself in a different place, like a picture of my friends or family.