The Things O'Brien Carries:

I believe The Things They Carried is more of an appeal to the world to know the lives of those involved in the war and reflect their thoughts upon returning to a world that just does not understand them. Much like Rambo, O'Brien champions the cause of the neglected soldier. He longs to expose to the world the tragedies these men went through. He want to expose the motives behind their actions and justify why they return to the U.S. different than they were before.

I also feel that O'Brien had a great need to tell these stories. He may have felt that if all these tales lay dormant within his own mind circling around and around with nobody to talk to or fully understand, then he could end up the same as Bowker. Bowker, therefore, looking upon this novel as a work of fiction, could represent everything O'Brien feared he himself might become.