If I Die in a Combat Zone

by

Tim O’Brien

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If I Die in a Combat Zone: Chapter 12 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Several soldiers crowd around a young Vietnamese woman who is shot through the groin, bleeding out. They remark that she’s “pretty for a gook” and the soldier who shot her laments what he’s done—he didn’t know she was a woman or that she was beautiful. The soldiers can see that she’ll bleed out but they try to give her shade and fan the flies off her. The woman wears a North Vietnamese Army uniform. They call a helicopter to take her to a field hospital, but by the time the helicopter arrives, she’s no longer moving. She dies on the flight.
“Gook” is an offensive racial slur for Vietnamese people. The soldier’s sadness and regret at shooting a pretty woman, even though she wears an enemy uniform, suggests that they find it easier to empathize with someone they are attracted to than an old man or a child. Even so, the soldiers’ sadness at seeing her bleed to death suggests that some part of them still regrets the fact that they must kill people.
Themes
The Evils of the Vietnam War Theme Icon
The Enemy Theme Icon
Racism at War Theme Icon