1960s 20th-century action america american american-history american-literature american-military american-soldiers american-war american-war-literature anguish anti-war anti-war-movement anti-war-sentiment auto-biography autobiography awe-inspiring battle battle-experiences battle-fatigue battle-scenes battle-stories battlefield battlefields battlefront battles betrayal biography bravery brotherhood brutality brutality-of-war camaraderie caputo combat combat-experiences combat-zone coming-of-age conflict confusion consequences consequences-of-war courage death disillusionment duty emotional emotional-impact emotional-journey experience eyewitness-account fear first-hand-account first-person-narrative firsthand-account firsthand-narrative friendship frontline futility-of-war gritty guerilla-warfare guerrilla-warfare guilt hanoi hardship harrowing haunting hell heroism historic historical historical-non-fiction historical-nonfiction history honor hopelessness horror human-nature humanity identity infantry infantryman innocence intense journalism journey leadership literature loss loss-of-innocence loss. loyalty marine-corps marines masculinity memoir memoirist memoirs-and-biographies mental-health military military-culture military-experience military-history military-life military-memoir military-service military-strategy moral-ambiguity moral-dilemma morality narrative non-fiction nonfiction pacific-theater patriotism personal-account personal-accounts personal-experience personal-experiences personal-journey personal-narrative personal-narratives perspective philip politics post-traumatic-stress-disorder post-war post-war-struggles post-war-trauma postwar psychological psychological-effects psychological-effects-of-war psychological-impact psychological-impact-of-war psychological-trauma psychology ptsd pulitzer-prize pulitzer-prize-nominee raw redemption reflection reflections relationships resilience sacrifice servicemen social-commentary soldier soldiers soldiers-experience soldiers-perspective south-vietnam southeast-asia storytelling struggle suffering surreal survival tragedy trauma true-story truth united-states-marine-corps united-states-marines us-marines us-military veteran veterans vietnam vietnam-conflict vietnam-veteran vietnam-veterans vietnam-war vietnam-war-literature vietnam-war-memoir vietnam-war-veteran vietnam-war-veterans violence war war-atrocities war-chronicle war-correspondence war-correspondent war-correspondents war-crimes war-experience war-experiences war-journalism war-literature war-memoir war-stories war-trauma war-veteran war-veterans war-zone warfare