Where's Nam?

I originally considered "Notes" to be a sort of explanatory section tossed in for any of us still stuck in the muck of the story, just in case we had missed the point. Upon further examination it occured to me that although "Notes" is a bit of a summary it is also a kind of eulogy, a final peace that O'Brien felt he owed his friends. I particularly love the inclusion of Norman's letter in this section and the detailed feelings it displays for the reader. Whether it is an actual letter or not doesn't matter because it is truer than the truth. This can be said for the entire section "Notes."

It is also important to consider that "Notes" details the healing process as pertains to O'Brien. He egotistically admits to having no pains in adjusting to being back in his old life and picking up where he left off. At the same time, he admits that the process of writing was healing for him and that he believes it is what kept him from ending up in some sort of mental/emotional state of "paralysis." Is it narrow-minded to consider that although this book started out as a sort of tribute to Nam or brothers in arms it turned out to be a form of purgation for O'Brien?

He reveals many characters to the reader that have deeply personal experiences. It is doubtful that they all confided these experiences to him. It seems more likely to me that each of these characters is a type of projection of O'Brien and what he internally experienced both pre and post Vietnam, not to mention the war itself. If you take a bit of the truth and fill in the blanks with what you presume should be there, you end up with something that may not be the entire truth but it does, just as O'Brien said, give clarity to a situation. I often find that a story loses something in the telling of it. Maybe he is trying to put that something back into the story by adding to it a measure of what is lost.