1960s 20th-century action african-american african-american-experience african-american-literature alienation ambiguity america american american-dream american-history american-identity american-literature american-military american-soldiers american-war anguish anti-war anti-war-movement anti-war-sentiment assimilation autobiographical autobiography battle battle-experiences battle-scenes battlefield battlefields battles betrayal bildungsroman biography black-culture black-experience black-identity blindness bravery brotherhood brutality camaraderie civil-rights civil-rights-movement combat coming-of-age conflict conformity courage cultural-heritage death discrimination disillusionment double-consciousness duty emotional emotional-impact equality existentialism experience fear first-hand-account firsthand-account freedom frontline gritty guerilla-warfare guerrilla-warfare guilt harlem harlem-renaissance harrowing heroism historical historical-nonfiction history honor humanity identity identity-crisis individualism individuality inequality infantry injustice innocence invisibility invisible invisible-man isolation jazz journalism leadership literature loss loss-of-innocence loyalty marine-corps marines memoir memoirist military military-experience military-history military-memoir military-service modernism moral-ambiguity morality narrator non-fiction nonfiction oppression patriotism personal-account personal-experience personal-freedom personal-journey personal-narrative personal-narratives perspective political politics post-traumatic-stress-disorder post-war postwar power power-dynamics prejudice protagonist protest psychological psychological-effects psychological-effects-of-war psychological-impact psychological-trauma ptsd pulitzer-prize race racial-discrimination racism ralph-ellison redemption reflection reflections resilience sacrifice segregation self-discovery social-commentary social-inequality social-injustice social-justice society soldier soldiers soldiers-experience soldiers-perspective south-vietnam southeast-asia southern-united-states stereotypes storytelling struggle surrealism survival symbolism tragedy trauma true-story truth underground united-states-marine-corps us-marines veteran veterans vietnam vietnam-conflict vietnam-veteran vietnam-veterans vietnam-war vietnam-war-literature vietnam-war-memoir violence war war-atrocities war-correspondence war-correspondent war-correspondents war-crimes war-experience war-experiences war-journalism war-literature war-memoir war-stories war-trauma war-veterans war-zone warfare