What are two important friendships in The Things They Carried and how do they relate to its vision of the Vietnam experience?

The first important friendship that O'Brien illustrates
and is very important to the Vietnam experience is with Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. In the
second story, entitled "Love," O'Brien goes to meet Jimmy at his home in Massachusetts.
He discusses the events that took place during the war, and in particular, Jimmy's guilt
over the death of Ted Lavender. "Many years after the war... Jimmy rubbed his eyes and
said he'd never forgiven himself for Lavender's death." This illustrates that the war
sticks with a soldier forever. In his books, O'Brien has illustrated that theme
throughout. Later on in the book, O'Brien recounts his own experience with killing a man
in "The Man I Killed." O'Brien incorporates many versions of the victim's life that he
has imagined in the years since the war. That guilt has never left
him.

Another friendship that is important to O'Brien is
with Kiowa. In "The Man I Killed," Kiowa is constantly trying to get Tim to talk about
the man, to say something. He tries to reason with O'Brien saying "All right, let me ask
you a question...You want to trade places with him? Turn it all upside down-you
want that? I mean, be honest." Kiowa's experience in the war allows
him to understand that Tim can't dwell on what is done and can't be undone. He's doing
everything he can to get Tim's attention, so that Tim doesn't get himself killed because
of the distraction. This is an important friendship that  Tim appreciates throughout the
war and beyond.