Tim O'Brian's short story, "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong", Mary Anne Bell is a rare illustration of the innocence that is lost. In her cute sweater, crisp pants, and free-spirited attitude, no one could look more flawless. She was the definition of a true young American teenager or at least that's what they all thought at first. At the beginning of the story, she is something noticeable to both the soldiers and the reader: she was expected to be a normal young American girl who wanted nothing more than a family. The story of his transformation into something different, a killer, mirrors the transformation of most soldiers. It is a well-known fact that war changes people; there is an innocence that is lost forever. They go to war as young men and return as thirsty butchers. The sweetheart song Tra bong is not about the war or Mary Anne, but about how Mary Anne embraced herself and her surroundings while everyone else ignored every detail. Although Mary Anne felt at peace with herself and her transformation, she was also disconnected from the real world. Mary Anne was smuggled into Vietnam by her boyfriend Mark Fossie to visit him, her arrival in Vietnam brought a touch of home to everyone. She was a beautiful and innocent 17-year-old American blonde, she wore "white culottes and a sexy pink sweater" (O'Brian 91). Her bubbly personality, cheerful smile and good looks not only pleased Mark, but also the good morale of all the other soldiers. For the first two weeks, the two lovebirds were glued to each other as if they needed each other to breathe. "Mary Anne and Fossie had been sweethearts since high school and since sixth grade, they knew full well that one day they would get married...... middle of paper ...... Mary Anne's journey, however, has leads to her being consumed by ambiguous darkness If “one thing can happen and be a complete lie and another thing can not happen and be truer than the truth” (80), then perhaps the final truth; about Mary Anne was that she "knew exactly who she was" (106) The end of Mary Anne's story might have been beautiful and civil for her, but ugly and chaotic for you, and that was her liberation. .At the end of the story, Mary Anne walked in the mountains and did not come. This literally means that she is part of the earth. She complied and never looked back to the one who. she loved. Works Cited “An Analysis of Tim O'Brien, How to Tell a True War Story of the Things They Carried.” HubPages. Np, and Web. April 18, 2014. “O'Brien, Tim. The things they carried: a work of fiction. Prince Frederick, MD: RB Large Print, 2003. Print.