In Tim O'Brien's novel, he says "They were afraid of dying but they were even more afraid to show it. They found jokes to tell .... It wasn't cruelty, just stage presence. They were actors." When I first read this, I immediately thought of Vonnegut's fictitious religion Bokonon in Cat's Cradle. They are living by foma, harmless untruths, in order to survive the war. Also, each soldier feels the same way, yet they all pretend as if they don't to seem like a man, like a soldier. This reminded me of the people of San Lorenzo, all of whom practice Bokonon and know this, yet still pretend as if no one does. The soldiers act as if they are brave to be brave, to fight for their country, but mostly to stay alive. The jokes they tell and the "stage presence" they put on keep them sane, and those are the lies, or untruths, that are necessary in life.