During the first half of the 20th century, Americans fought in three wars. Besides World War I and World War II, there was the Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953. The Cold War with the Soviet Union was an ongoing concern for Americans during this time as well. Then the 1960s brought even more turmoil and conflict. President Kennedy sent "advisers" into Vietnam to help the South Vietnamese forces, but after his assassination in 1963, President Johnson resorted to bombings and ground forces in an effort to influence the conflict's outcome. The costly, controversial war did not end until 1975. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, as the Vietnam conflict dragged on, soldiers and civilians alike became increasingly disillusioned and weary of war.

The controversy surrounding the Vietnam War was related to several issues. Some people thought that the Vietnam War was a crime. They saw it as an attempt by the U.S. to stop the Vietnamese from driving French colonialism out of the country. Others believed that the war was handled poorly--and ultimately lost--by timid policymakers and a biased media. Additionally, the drafting of many poor and middle-class men--but few from the upper classes--angered Americans and persuaded some to postpone or dodge the draft completely.

During the 1960s, African Americans were still fighting to end segregation and discrimination, a fight that had begun in the 1950s. Between 1964 and 1971, there were as many as 700 instances of civil disobedience. Although there were some violent civil rights protests before 1968, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., led to new, more volatile leadership. The riots that occurred after King's death often resulted in arson, arrests, and deaths, and those who tended to suffer the most were African Americans living within the confines of the riot area.

Any author writing during this time would have much on his or her mind, including--for some--memories of guerrilla warfare in Vietnam, a type of military engagement characterized by ambush, the use of civilian decoys, and other unconventional battle strategies. Tim O'Brien, the author of the short story you'll read today, was stationed in Vietnam during some of the worst fighting and lived to write many books and stories based on his experiences.