"APO 96225" ~by Larry Rottmann

(#13)
This poem is written as if it is little pieces of letter conversations between a soldier and his family. The soldier's letters to his mother are all (except one) understatements. He tries not to focus on the war and on the battles. Instead, he talks about the rain, the "funny monkeys," and the spectacular sunsets in an attempt to make the war sound better than it is in reality. However, the father's response to what the war is really like creates situational irony. The family had been begging their son to tell them the truth of how the war really was, but he had just been telling them positive understatements. When the soldier finally tells the truth and says, "Today I killed a man. Yesterday, I helped drop napalm on women and children." Then, his father responds saying, "Please don't write such depressing letters. You're upsetting your mother." This situational irony represents the way society viewed the Vietnam War. No one really knew what was going on over there, and most of them honestly did not want to know. They all wanted to sound interested and concerned about what was happening; however, they did not want to hear the terrible reality of the situation.