Symbol

"I [Rat Kiley] mean, when we first got here-all of us- were were real young and innocent, full of romantic bullshit, but we learned pretty damn quick. And so did Mary Anne" (page 97). Mary Anne is a symbol of all of the soldiers sent over to Vietnam. When they first arrive, they are not prepared for the life in a war zone. They are "green". They do not know exactly what to expect and they have to adjust. When Mary Anne arrives, she begins to quickly adjust to the life there. She learns about the Vietnamese and the land. She also begins to change because of the war. She had planned on marrying Fossie and having three kids and so on but she changes her mind. She begins to go on ambush missions with the Greenies. Eventually she disappears. She is a symbol for all of the soldiers who go to war and come back different people. Mary Anne changed and she would never be the same person ever again. All of the soldiers who go to war come back changed.