cowardly irony - TTTC

"The day was cloudy. I passed through towns with familiar names, through the pine forests and down to the prairie, and then to Vietnam, where I was a soldier, and then home again. I survived, but it's not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war."

(p. 58)

I've never associated cowardice with fighting in a war... apparently, O'Brien does. he was too embarrassed NOT to go to the war, so he decides to go. the irony of this though really sticks out to me. you would think that it would be exactly the opposite. you would think that a coward would be the one not to go to the war. I think that he feels like a coward because he does what everyone expects of him. he doesn't feel like he's making the decision for himself, and that makes him a coward. he goes to the war because he's too afraid of what everyone else will think if he doesn't. granted, he went, fought, and came home, but because of this he will never be the same.