The Real Enemies in the Things They Carried In Tim O'Brien's short story "Enemies", you see several signs that explain aspects of the Vietnam War and the actions of two soldiers who broke under the pressure created by the war. These pressures meant that little things created tension not only in soldiers' minds, but between two soldiers. For example, conflicts increased between Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen. The argument between two soldiers, whose actions were triggered by the madness of war, between Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen over a switchblade illustrates a perfect example of how tension built up during the war. Both men know well what happened during the war, they understood that many times they encountered men they thought were South Vietnamese, but with the quick draw of a gun or knife an entire battle ensued due to the unknown association between the South Vietnamese and Vietcong. In the bard's message, Jeff Jacobie stated, "soldiers in Vietnam were never sure who they could trust; they weren't sure whether the farmers around them were secretly loyal to the VC or not." This lack of a defined enemy drove soldiers mad in the war. Throughout the war, an unclear enemy caused the Americans many problems. They would ambush a town, and before they knew it, they were under scrutiny for killing people who may or may not have had any association with the Viet Cong. However, it was a risk they had to take in war, and this risk caused immense stress and strain on soldiers "leaping" across the rice fields of Vietnam. Not only because they didn't know who the enemy was, tension also grew among the soldiers. due to their loneliness and lack of understanding of why they were in Vietnam. In most cases, soldiers wandered the lonely land of Vietnam for months with the same guys, except for the occasional supply helicopter that arrived or brief radio contacts with headquarters to receive reinforcements and orders. The soldiers had very little contact with others and this isolation would have driven anyone crazy. To survive, the soldiers had to rely on each other. If they couldn't trust each other with their lives, none of them would ever return to the United States to enjoy aspects of life away from the war..