Perhaps its just me, but O'Brien's near-death, terrifying experience turned him into Mary Anne Bell from the Song Tra Bong for just a little bit. Especially when he was scaring Jorgenson and "seemed to rise out of [his] own body" (208). He became Vietnam just like Mary did, although for vastly different reasons. His was one of revenge. In a strange way the revenge might have almost served to restore some sense of justice. In the war, nothing was ever just,and their was rarely any retribution. But O'Brien took his injury into his own hands to find justice.
Jorgenson didn't mean to almost let O'Brien die. It was his first day and he had the completely understandable experience of being frozen with fear and confusion. That didn't take away his responsibility, though. From the stories my dad has told me, I think the war just didn't allow for compassion. When every little fault or moment of weakness could kill someone, it is impossible to give anyone much room for error. Even so, the thing that set O'Brien apart from Azar was that he still had a little bit of room for compassion.
The camaraderie between Jorgenson and O'Brien at the end shows that the retribution in some strange way was acceptable. The may not have been friends, but they were almost closer than that. They shared some sort of secret common experience and acceptance.
Good connection back to Mary Anne Bell. I too find it chilling that O'Brien, the character, has his own inner beast which wants to be unleashed. Good observation about justice. The camaraderie between Jorgenson and O'Brien is not dissimilar to Lee Struck and Dave Jensen.
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