Conflict

"No safe ground. Enemies everywhere." pg 60
Chapter 5 is an obvious example of conflict. Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen are in a fight over a jackknife. It's funny to me that even in the midst of a war, we are still capable of fighting with our neighbors. These men, brothers on the field, are incapable of settling their differences. It's sickening the way they describe the tension and paranoia the dispute brings about. "At night he [Jensen] had trouble sleeping-a skittish feeling- always on guard, hearing strange noises in the dark, imagining a grenade rolling into his goxhole or the tickle of a knige against his ear." pg 60. It seems ridicculous that these men are already fearful for their lives in a war against the Vietnam. However, these two men have entangled themselves into a conflict that has made them just as fearful of eachother. To me, it's as if they are almost fighting three different wars. One for their country, one for their pride, and one in their mind- trying to keep sane through the paranoia and fear.