Silence Kills “Okay class,” an authorative voice sounds out, “today we are going to talk about the Vietnam War.” A sea of dumbfounded faces stare the teacher down. “Does anyone know anything about the Vietnam War?” the voice continued to ask. The sea of faces is motionless, no true sign of coherence or understanding of the teacher’s words. A hand is slowly raised and then called upon. “That’s when Pearl Harbor was bombed, …showed first 75 words of 1096 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1096 total…Bowker ended up killing himself and never telling his story to anyone, that is a story that would have been lost forever if it were not for Tim O’Brien. More veterans need to follow the path that Mr. O’Brien has started by telling war stories; start relieving those suppressed feelings and memories and let others learn from what you carry. Works Cited O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Random House, 1990.