Life can bring unexpected events that people may not be prepared to face. This was the case with O'Brien in the story "On the Rainy River" from the book The Things They Carried. As an author and character, O'Brien describes his experiences of the Vietnam War. In the story, he faces the conflict of whether or not he should go to war after being drafted. He couldn't imagine how hard it must be to fight without knowing how to fight, and the reason for such a war. Additionally, O'Brien is terrified of leaving his family, friends, and everything he loves. He decides to run away from his responsibility with society. However, a feeling of shame and embarrassment pushes him to go to war. O'Brien considers himself a coward for doing something he doesn't agree with; on the other hand, thinking about the outcome of his decision makes him a courageous man. Therefore, an individual who considers the consequences of his actions is more noble than a war hero. The Vietnam War was a conflict that many people did not understand. Indeed, the war was atrocious and bloody. According to The Vietnam War: a History in Documents, 58,000 American soldiers died and more than 700,000 returned with physical and emotional scars (Young, Fitzgerald & Grunfeld 147). For many Americans this war made no sense. Likewise, O'Brien admits, “the American war in Vietnam seemed wrong to me; a certain blood was shed for an uncertain reason” (40). O'Brien believes the war was not significant. Furthermore, the lack of logic in the matter makes him confused about going to war. That's why he doesn't understand why he was sent to fight a war whose causes and effects were uncertain. The author goes on to say, “I was too good for… half of the paper… besides, going to war was an act of cowardice. He had to put aside his morals and principles and fight a war he didn't believe in. Overall, the author showed us the courageous and cowardly acts of O'Brien's character. The fact that he was a coward made him perform a heroic act. O'Brien made the courageous decision to go to war. It would have been easier and cowardly to jump and swim away from all his fears. However he decided to go back and fight for something he didn't believe in. Thinking about the consequences of escaping makes him a hero. He went to war not because he wanted to fight for his country, but for his own freedom. Whatever choice he might have made, it would have required some sort of courage to follow through. Going to war required a kind of courage. In other words, running from the law would have been courageous; but going to war was even harder.