Transformation into Sweetheart of the Song Tra BongIn Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong, Tim O'Brien provides a dynamic example of how even the deep roots of a culture can be modified. The focus is on the young woman, whose boyfriend manages to have her shipped from the United States to Vietnam. She was then immersed in a completely foreign culture that thousands of American GIs knew. This cultural shift has affected America's strongest and most capable ground troops. The effects on a civilian are almost unfathomable. The "sweetheart" of the story is a young American girl whose description identifies her as the stereotypical girl of the late 1960s and early 1970s. "A tall, big-boned blonde, long legs and bright eyes. bruises and a complexion like strawberry ice cream. Very nice too." (p. 93). However, this seemingly attractive appearance and sweet, innocent demeanor would change over the following weeks. At first, “she liked to walk around the compound and ask questions” (95). She learned many useful skills from "spending time with the ARVNs along the perimeter, learning little phrases in Vietnamese, learning how to cook rice on a Sterno box, how to eat with her hands." (95), she had the mindset “I’m here, I might as well learn something.” (96). Then, little by little, she began to become more active in daily life activities in Vietnam. “At the start of her second week, she started pestering Mark Fossie to take her to the village” (96). The environment began to take a hold of her and slowly pull her away from her conventional civilian lifestyle. "At the end of the second week, when four victims arrived, Mary Anne was not afraid to get her hands bloody. ./ She learned how to cut an artery and middle of paper...... was completed. An almost complete metamorphosis from the innocent American schoolgirl to this highly skilled stealthy creature who could live off the land without support from anything or anyone “She had crossed over to the other side. territory. She wore her culottes, her pink sweater and a necklace of human tongues. She was ready to kill. (116). Going from “white bread” America to the bush of Vietnam is a radical change. Two completely different worlds. Mary Anne appears as this supposedly fragile child of American conventionalism and the story ends she has become the ideal killing machine. This shows how much culture can change a person. During the Vietnam War, this change occurred for thousands of soldiers. They were not born to kill, but to live. like Mary Anne did.