A playful war

The whole movie seems overshadowed by the fact that most of the soldiers in Vietnam are very young. This is projected on the civilians in the war because the soldiers dominate that land and the people in it with superior firepower and men. The U.S. army essentially emigrated to Vietnam, invaded with as many young americans as possible, and then assimilated them into the populace. This changed the dynamic of the people there considerably because many of the soldiers who had been changed by the horrors they saw during the war ended up staying in Vietnam. This is similar to the french soldiers who found the plantation and decided to defend it because it was their home. Very familiar themes of PTSD can be seen throughout the film especially when Kurtz is finally introduced. He has seen the arms of children cut off simply because the vietcong did not want anything to do with the American invaders. It changed him, and near the end of the movie captain willard could even sense he just wanted to go out like a soldier. Kurtz still wanted to end his pain however and allowed him self to die at the end of the movie.