We struggle with the public and private memories of the Vietnam War, as with all wars while the first remembering the war dead for their virtues, our principles, the second remembering them out of grief, a private emotion. These memories can be dangerous in that they perpetuate our tendency to resolve our differences by combat. And yet they uniquely define the human situation with all its fragility. Perhaps in the end all we are left with is our narrative, our view of the world in spite of nature, which is neither our friend nor foe.