Is Three Kings a true war story?

The movie Three Kings, its uncertain whether it is a true war story or not. It is torn between the two. It is a true war story because it is very obscene. They curse, they drink, they shoot people, there's blood, there's evil, etc. For example in the beginning when they first make a plan to get the gold, they plan to just use the rebels and get the gold. They don't want to have anything to do with the rebels, they just want to get in, get the gold then get out. That's very obscene and cold since the people are suffering and dying. And they don't want to help them what so ever. Another reason its a true war story is that its not realistic. It doesn't seem possible that it would be that easy to get 23 million dollars worth of gold. They just walked in and found it almost right away. Also the fact that the rebels have all those expensive cars in the middle of nowhere. That's not realistic. Another reason its a true war story is because it makes you feel uncomfortable. Like when the lady got shot and you saw all the blood. Or when you saw the inside of Troy. My last reason its true, is that it captures paradoxes of war. For example, war is fun, war is horrible. In the beginning they party and have fun. But by the end they are suffering. At the same time this story seems like a true one there are some reasons its false. For example the movie has a nice ending. But according to O'Brien a true war story never ends. In conclusion the movie Three Kings is torn in-between a true and false war story.

#Basedonatruestory

Three Kings is in fact a true war story for many reasons. The movie is unbelievable which is one of the characteristics of a true war story. The story started off with a party and the soldiers having fun celebrating a victory. When you usually think of war you don't see parties. Also, there was so much gold just lying around in the country. There wouldn't just be gold lying around because if there was there would be more people going after it. Another characteristic of a true war story is that it makes you uncomfortable. Many parts in the move mad me uncomfortable, there was the killing of the man's wife, and Troy being tortured and forced to drink oil. These scenes in the movie showed how things went down in that country. The story also was very obscene and evil. They used so much foul language, and had sex with women during the movie. It gave realistic details and scenes and showed many examples of Tim O'Brein characteristics of a true war story, that's why its an true war story.

Based On A False Story

Three Kings is not a true war story. According to Tim O’Brien a true war story has no morals, this movie shows how the moral of this story was money is less important than people’s lives. The American soldiers gave up their gold for the refugees to cross the border. A true war story doesn't have morals. Also, Tim O’Brien says a true war story isn't uplifting or has a happy ending. The end of this movie showed the soldiers living normal happy lives after they were let go. In a true war story a soldier would be traumatized from the all the death they experienced. The soldiers at the end looked like the war didn't affect them at all, the stories didn't stick with them.

Three Kings a True War story

Three Kings is half a true war story and half not.  Three Kings shows good information for things in war like the brutality, the stomach turning affect, and also shows how war builds brotherhoods with the man fighting next to you. Three Kings also shows some of the unrealistic things in war like four soldiers finding a map in a enemy soldier's butt hole and following the quest for the treasuring they think is hidden somewhere on the map. Three kings shows some values of a true war story while also making up other details to make the story sound much more interesting.

Is 3 Kings a true war story or not?

I don't think that the 3 Kings is a true war story because even though it follows some of the characteristics of a true war story, there are a couple that don't follow and I think that those stick out. One of Tim O'Briens characteristics is that the war does not end. In the movie, the war does seem to end. There is justice for the refugees, and the soldiers get honorable discharged and go on with their lives. Another example of why 3 Kings is not a true war story is because when you're finished with a true war story, you shouldn't feel happy or excited or inspired. At the end of 3 Kings, I felt really nice because everything turned out okay. That shows that the 3 Kings is not a true war story.

Burning

If I were drafted for the Vietnam war,I would burn my draft card and protest.My parents wouldn't judge me for dodging the draft unlike Tim O'Brien parents in The Things They Carried and Oak park is a very liberal town so I do not thing to many people would judge me for it.I think wouldn't just protest against the Vietnam war,I would also be a left wing activist of some kind.Maybe join the SDS(Students for Democratic Society) or some organization like that.I would do this because Vietnam war is Imperialist and I do not feel that It would be right to fight for a dictator.I would try and fight for the Rights of African Americans and other oppressed peoples with in the united states.

I Would be Coward and Fight.

If I were a 19 year old in 1970 and just received my notice that I had been drafted into the Vietnam War, I would fight in the war. I would not be able to leave my family and friends and not know if I could ever go back home to them. Knowing this I would either ed up fighting in the Vietnam war, like Tim O'Brien, or protesting. However, I agree with Tim O'Brien, that fighting in the war will make me a coward. Instead of protesting against fighting I am going to fight in a war that I don't want to really be fighting in. Also going to war would give me a good chance of getting to see the people who I care about again; where running to Canada wouldn't.

Cultural analysis

 "His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip and teeth were gone, his one eye was shut, his other eye was a star-shaped hole, his eyebrows were thin and arched like a woman's, his nose was undamaged, there was a slight tear at the lobe of one ear, his clean black hair was swept upward into a cowlick at the rear of the skull, his forehead was lightly freckled.." (118) 

This quote was important because it shows how much imagery was sketched into his head. He couldn't escape what his very own eyes had seen and what had traumatized him pretty much for the rest of his life. O'brien was extremely detailed in his explanation which was good because it gets readers more interested in reading the rest of the book. It caught my attention pretty quickly. 

             

Fight for their country?

 If i was a 19 year old in 1970 and just received my notice that i had been drafted into the Vietnam War, I would escape to Canada. I was told to stand up for what i believe in when I was a kid. I don't see why i would fight for another country if it had nothing to do with me. Like O'brien said it would be more brave if you wold go to Canada. The reason why is that you are basically standing up to the U.S government instead of follow them. If you don't think something is right don't just go threw with it.

I would be highly pissed. How would they send troops to a war that had nothing to deal with us. So i would be brave and escape to Canada.

I would be a fool; I'd Fight in the war

If I were a 19 year old in 1970 and just received my notice that I had been drafted into the Vietnam War, I would fight in the war. I wouldn't have the resources or the materials to leave the Country. It's to much to leave the country and not know if I would ever come home and see my family again. That would devastate me which would led to me making the same decision as Tim O'Brien and go to Vietnam. I also agree with Tim O'Brien that going to the war makes me a coward. It shows that I'm afraid of the U.S government and instead of standing up for what I believe in I would be going to fight for a country that's making a bad decision. Tim O'Brien and I also don't want to leave because I would be leaving my family and I don't know what to do without them. Going to Canada though there's a chance I would never bee allowed back. So going to the war would at least let me see my family in years to come.

Who is the Real Coward

If I were a 19 year old boy in 1970 and I just received my draft notice, I would enlist in the military. I wouldn't run because that would dissapoint my family and friends and they would view me as a coward. I would also want to fight against the VC and support the struggling military win the war. I would obviously be afraid of dying but i would rather die a hero in Nam rather than getting sent to prison for being caught sneaking into Canada and fleeing my notice.

The Mathematician

O'Brien says,

He was not a fighter. His health was poor, his body small and frail. He liked books. He wanted someday to be a teacher of mathematics. At night, lying on his mat, he could not picture himself doing the brave things his father had done, or his uncles, or the heroes of the stories. (119)

In this quote O'Brien was talking about the man he killed, he was giving him a life besides war. When people think about war they just think about two countries fighting and people dying. People don't think that someone killed them and that it haunts them. People forget that everyone fighting in the war has a life besides the war itself.

How To Be A Real Soldier

O'Brien writes,

The ribbons looked good on the uniform in his closet...he was proud of all of them...especially the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, because it meant he had been there as a real soldier and had done all the things soldiers do. (135)

I feel like in this section, O'Brien shows not only what war is really like but also what life is like. He shows that in war (and life), you often feel as though you have to live up too a certain expectation and achieve certain things. And if you don't, you're not fulfilling your true duty. You're not doing what a "real" soldier should do. This mentality is also highlighted in "The Dentist" where O'Brien writes "He had an opinion of himself, I think, that was too high for his own good. Or maybe it was the reverse. Maybe it was a low opinion that he kept trying to erase."

Life Reflection

O'Brien writes,

What he should've done, he told himself, was follow his first impulse. In the late afternoon yesterday, when they reached the night coordinates, he should've taken one look and headed for higher ground. No excuses. (pg161)

This quote shows how luck is not always on your side and in a true story you are not always lucky and bad things do happen. Some times  things could have been batter but in real stories people don't always have full control over their future and even if they have control they may not know the outcome. O'Brien says that war doesn't leave you with a uplifting feeling and when something like this happens it makes the reader feel sad because the death was preventable but anyways he died.

Contagoious Death

O'Brien writes,

He would've talked about this, and how he grabbed Kiowa by the boot and tried to pull him out. He pulled hard but Kiowa was gone, and then he suddenly felt himself going too. The shit was in his nose and eyes. There  were flares and mortar rounds, and the stink everywhere- it was inside him, in his lungs- and he could no longer tolerate it.(143)

O'Brien states that war was unpredictable and could get serious at any time and to be in the middle of war feels like hell. Many people he knew died and most of the troops there often didn't take war serious and played around a lot. He also goes into explain how war can change anyone and most likely everyone, when they try to save Kiowa from the field that the man who tried to save him realized Kiowa was gone and could only sit there with shit on his hands in the rain alone and still. War also changes people because they constantly think about the trauma they've been through and can cause disorders like PT SD.  Our "good soldier" opinion can be false because many base a soldier on how many medals he has and O'Brien claims that many of the soldiers receive medals but sometimes for doing nothing or for something little like getting a minor injury and receiving a purple heart. War is like life because troops learn new things like they'd learn everyday in a normal life, but in war they learn survival skills and even skills to overcome many things like the death of a soldier.

Outrageous Bravery

O'Brien writes,

"The Silver Star?" his father might have said. 

"Yes, but I didn't get it. Almost, but not quite."

"And his father would have nodded, knowing full well that many brave men do not win medals for their bravery, and that others win medals for doing nothing." (135)

In the story 'Speaking of Courage' O'Brien reveals that even if you're brave and continue to be brave you may not be acknowledged for it. This quote shows how the battles, and the "good soldier"  are completely different from the reality of the war. I believe this quote answers this question because in all reality i believe that any soldier going to war should be considered as brave. But from this quote it shows that in the reality of war you have to do something outside of a normal soldier life to be considered as brave to win the Silver Star medal.

Life Changes

O'Brien writes,

Even now I haven't finished sorting it out. Sometimes I forgive myself, other times I don't. In the ordinary hours of life I try not to dwell on it, but now and then, when I'm reading a newspaper or just sitting alone in a room, I'll look up and see the young man step out of the morning fog. I'll watch him walk toward me, his shoulders slightly stooped, his head cocked to the side, and he'll pass within a few yards of me and suddenly smile at some secret thought and then continue up the trail to where it bends back into the fog. (128)

O'Brien reveals that soldiers' lives are not the same as it was before the war. He shows that soldiers don't forget when they kill someone or when one of them is killed. O'Brien keeps on remembering the first guy he killed and how he won't forget it and what could of happened if he never killed the guy.

Spin

O'Brien writes

    The war wasn't all terror and violence. Sometimes things could almost get sweet. For instance, I remember a little boy with a plastic leg. I remember how he hopped over to Azar and asked for a chocolate bar "GI number one," the kid said and Azar laughed and handed over the chocolate. When the boy hopped away, Azar clucked his tough and said, "Wars a bitch." He shook his head sadly. "One leg, for Chrissake. Some poor fucker ran out of ammo." (30)

O'Brien shows that war sucks it was nothing but pure hell and innocent people get hurt innocent people as in children.

Uncomfortable...

O'brien writes,

His jaw was in his throat , his upper lip and teeth were gone , his one eye was shut, his other eye was a star-shaped hole, his eyebrows were thin and arched like a women's, his nose was undamaged, there was a slight tear at the lobe of one ear, his clean black hair was swept upward into a cowlick at the rear the skull, his forehead was lightly freckled , his fingernails were clean the skin at his left cheek peeled back in three ragged stripes, his right cheek...his neck was open to the spinal cord and the blood there was thick and shiny and it was this wound that had killed him.(118)       

O'brien reveals that war is uncomfortable and by being in the middle of the war there will be a time where you approach killing someone, then after all these traumatic things happen it will change you as person, maybe leaving you with PTD, because you are emotionally scarred leaving those memories stuck in your head. Then it really shows how it's uncomfortable by the word choice he had chose to describe the dead boy in the story. Leaving you with a vivid image.

Just Ignore It..

O'Brien writes,

'What this was, it was a shit field. The village toilet. No indoor plumbing, right? So they used the field. I mean, we were camped in a goddamn shit field.' He imagined Sally Kramer closing her eyes. If she were here with him, in the car, she would've said, 'Stop it. I don't like that word'

This is an example of how O'Brien compares war to life. O'Brien describes war as a shit field, like it was a horrible place to be. Life can also be bad and filled with bad events, just like how the men in the war experienced bad events. War isn't the only place where bad things happen. When bad things happen, people would rather ignore it than call attention to it. This connects to life because in the quote is gives you an imagery of this girl Sally Kramer covering her ears and saying that she doesn't like the word he uses to describe war. It's just like how in life people ignore the bad things especially if it doesn't affect them personally.