"Vietnam was full of strange stories, some improbable, some well beyond that, but the stories that will last forever are those that swirl back and forth across the border - In the chapter "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,"" the narrator, Tim O'Brien tells us about how Rat seems like a kidder at first because he tells so many stories but more then likely. Mary Ann is just a teenager and travels to Vietnam unannounced by the others in Alpha Company. Even though they were planning to bring a woman over, were not aware that is was going to be Rat's girlfriend. She however, represented innocence and purity of the people who are left behind going about their daily routines in the United States.
The one thing that troubles everyone is that she wasn't even supposed to be in Vietnam but it was just luck that she made it. She had not one bit of a clue of her surroundings or what she was doing at base camp, her main priority was to see her fiancée that was Rat Kiley. She was innocent, she was pure and she was like a spirit reviver to the entire Alpha Company. For the most part, the narrator just gradually develops the mood and sense of belonging in Alpha Company when MaryAnn was around. A checkers game was occurring, men were chitchatting away and more so stories were always being told.
It's that feeling that a person responds to when they don't know what is going on. "I might as well learn something-, that's how MaryAnn felt until she joined an ambush mission with the secretive Special Operations. Well, what can you do when your curious about something and really what to know what is going on? Simple you follow what ever is out there, and that's what the narrator did, he created the image of an innocent girl lost in the world of combat killing and secrets. .
The set-up in this chapter is actually like a reality and you have to face it one way or another. In Vietnam, people were dying all over the place so if you're like Mary Ann, one sneak peek of what goes on behind the front lines, you'll be either scared too death or become one to fight.