World of Hurt
The author brings out the theme of hurt in the article. This hurt is a result of the war in Vietnam, which had consequences on the author as it brought anger and fear. This made the author develop courage and hope. The author, together with the nurses, celebrated dinner, which was mixed with alcohol. The dinner was purposely to enable them to celebrate and at least make themselves comfortable away from their daily lives full of hurt due to the war. They also had alcohol to make them high and, for a moment, have a good time since it would make them forget that they are in a war. This because of their intention that they needed the drinks to get them to the moon. This meant that they wanted to get so drunk that they would forget for sometimes the hurt they are experiencing because of the war.
The hurt is shown by the author when the time cut their party short. During the party, they realized that the time for curfew had passed. This necessitated the move to their houses to have an indoor party. This shows the hurt that results from war since they could not be free due to the curfew, unlike when there is no war. On their way home, the twenty of them could only use one truck. This is an effect of war since that could not have happened in the society where there is no war. In the track, also they continued drinking from one pot as they continued with the party. This shows how desperate they were to avoid their memories of war. It also shows that the war had hurt their feelings so they could use any possible way to forget.
When a soldier accidentally got his foot into the pot in their attempt to get him inside the truck, they continued drinking from the pot. This was surprising considering the unhygienic that was to their health. It also shows they had a great urge to get high to forget the problems they were going through in their work. They also desired to get fun from the drink even though they were at war. Partying was their only way to enjoy themselves and make them escape work, war, and politics. This would make them gather for dinner once in a while for a random reason. They, however, had the difficulty of food because they could use the food from PX and mess hall or even raid the hooches to check if they could find food left in the community rooms. This made once to prepare spaghetti using yellowed packets which were expired. This scarcity of food was hurting the people and was one of the effects of war.
Things started to change positively since the day before Christmas, they were able to get food in the mess hall, prepared it in the kitchen. They were also able to use the required equipment in the Hospital, such as the sterile need and the suture for operation. The hospital officer’s club never served food, but on the night before the new year, they welcomed people for dinner and drinks. They have also had the hope that it was the last year that Americans would leave Vietnam. They sang because of the joy they had since they had faith that the hurt of war would soon come to an end. The author and the other senior offices also found an escape from the war through a party that was in the general’s home. At the party, they had a cocktail, and shortly after, they had dinner. After dinner, they watched a movie. These forms of fun gave them relief from the pain that was caused by war. They also were relieved from fear that they would have experienced at war. This is because they did not talk about the war the whole night despite the fact it was going on.
On another night, John Miller and the author went into another event to see Fantasticks at USARV Headquarters. They enjoyed the show, which brought her memories of New York. She also went to Australian Hospital because of the agreement reached by Chief Nurse on an exchange program that allowed to give two staff nurses per week. After the morning duties of the nurses, they were given freedom for the rest of the day to spend it how they would like to. She spent her time in beach pools, visiting the ruins in the countryside, and shopping in town. At the Hospital, there were breaks where people went for coffee and later lunch. After lunch, they would take a nap for almost an hour, and in the evening, they would go for cocktails. At nights, the nurses would go for supper, and then later, they would go for a movie and drink. These activities were full of fun and made them escape their situation since, throughout that time, it was hard to recall that they were was a war going on. However, with all the beautiful places and scenes, it was still difficult to escape the reality that hurt that there was a war going on.