How to Tell A True War Story

It's amazing what little details the mind can remember or even makeup when reliving an traumatic experience. In How to Tell A True War Story, O'Brien recounts the event of his friend's death with such intensity that it allows the reader to know that this is something he has relived all too often. The details that he remembers such as the order in which Kiley shot parts of the baby buffalo after he lost his best friend Curt lemon is astounding. "He stepped back and shot it through the right front knee.....and Rat took careful aim and shot off an ear..." The repetition of Lemon story speaks to the fact that O'Brien is most likely suffering from PTSD. Having relived this moment so many times via laying awake at night or whatever the situation is when this moment comes to mind O'Brien has every little detailed solidified in his mind whether it is the step that Lemon took before the booby-trap blew him into the tree, or the fact that Bower was singing  "Lemon Tree" as they took down Lemon's body parts off the tree. Although this event took place a long while ago O'Brien states that "20 years later he can still see the sunlight on Lemon's face." While Lemon's death was gruesome O'Brien makes it seem like there was some beauty in his death, like how Lemon's face was suddenly brown and shinning when his foot touched down. Which speaks to the fact that "true" war stories contradict themselves war can be "grotesque" but there's also beauty in war. "Almost everything is true and almost nothing is true." The use of repetition and contradiction reveals the effect of the war on O'Brien and how the events he experienced especially Lemon's death are forever etched in his mind.