If I Die in a Combat Zone Box Me Up and Ship Me Home is Tim O'Brien own memoir about his service in Vietnam. Having grown up in a patriotic family, O'Brien was disillusioned in high school when he realized that he couldn't justify violence and participation in the war for the sake of patriotism. He didn't agree with some of the dogma of his parents. Unfortunately, O'Brien is drafted and is shipped off to basic and then overseas, but he couldn't escaped to Canada but chose to stay. He focuses upon the trauma and horror of his combat experience, never allowing a single character to remain central for long, reflecting O'Brien's own relationship to impermanence as a result of the experience. Eventually he's transferred out of combat to assist as a typist in Major Callicles' investigation of the My Lai Massacre. By the time O'Brien returns home, he possesses a much more thorough knowledge of how exactly the government has taken advantage of his draft to pursue some shady ends.
O'Brien is not a proponent of war. He is definitely opposed to it in fact, but after serving he now deals with a regret which is unable to be mitigated. Since he could not legally avoid his draft, O'Brien feels sorely manipulated by his government. Although all of his philosophical and political arguments could be ignored, his real experience with warfare lends O'Brien's narrative the most credence. Ultimately he publishes this book in order to share his life's story, so that others may decide for themselves what the nature of warfare demands. It's a powerful message because O'Brien has witnessed true horror and death, fearing for his life the entire time.
