"So what about Billie?"

   As I read this portion of The Things They Carried, I was particularly moved by the description of the young soldier hopelessly searching for his picture of his "girl".  I feel that this description really highlights the innocence and youth the boy still has and the effects the war has had on him.  I thought this description of the boy repeatedly reaching down in the muck for his picture amplifies the sense of absolute hopelessness the Vietnam War brought about.  This also made me think of my own friend only 19 years old, who served in Afghanistan.  Although he has returned home, I wonder if he developed a sense of hopelessness in his time across the Atlantic.  Even though the boy in the story was looking for one "silly" picture, I completely understand how important that small connection to normal life can be.  Before my friend left for Afghanistian I made him a scrapbook filled with pictures of him and his friends, myself included, from childhood until present days.  He has told me numerous times how much he appreciates having the pictures with him to remind him what he's returning to.  Although the conditions for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan today are nowhere near as terrible as the ones in Vietnam, I feel that a huge amount of emotional damage and strain is given to young soldiers who aren't even sure what their life will become, yet they spend years at a time risking losing it.