O'Brien's story "how to tell true war story" is written like a guide for readers on the ins and outs of war. This piece was oddly written in the sense that it wasn't a single story but a collection of stories with little bits of commentary thrown in every so often. I think the truth O'Brien was trying to illustrate with these stories was that as he said in his commentary "A true war story never has a moral".
The narrator tells stories of Vietnam and the brutality and violence of that war, but also that the blurred truth from the war. I think what O'Brien is trying to say is that many war stories are exaggerated or spiced up for the benefit of the audience to get the overall point of the authors across to the reader. Most people who have never been to war can not imagine the horrors of it, yes everyone knows its terrible but you can never get the entire picture unless your there. I think O'Brien exaggerating the war stories to make the impact of the war hit home with those who have never been to war perfectly reasonable. If the stories would not have been as graphic or detailed I doubt the reader would remember a single thing about that piece 10 minutes after he read it. But because it was so graphic and detailed it is almost assured that the reader will retain a lot of what he just read. Now the question is if it is truthful or not.
Personally I don't think its deceitful or lying at all, if the overall point is still truthful I have no problem with the author being creative in getting his desired emotion out of the reader.
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