Life is a highway.

Back in the present, with the urge to reflect on the war beginning to wane, O’Brien begins to reconcile his experiences as a soldier in Vietnam with the truth of who he is as a writer and as a father in “Field Trip”. He clearly hasn’t exorcised the demons that haunt him and keep him from gaining closure from those days as a soldier, especially the feelings that remain surrounding the issues of Kiowa’s death. Even he was surprised by the emotions that came back when he returned years later and found the shit field where Kiowa died. It all comes rushing back when he says, “there it is” with a rough and chalky tone. His life has been a highway, with defined stops and points of interest along the way, and to move forward he must be at peace with what he sees in the rear-view mirror. He takes his daughter with him to Vietnam to return Kiowa’s sandals as an act of connecting these two points of his life’s journey so he can make peace with moving forward.

Life's like a road that you travel on
When there's one day here and the next day gone
Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand
Sometimes you turn your back to the wind
There's a world outside every darkened door
Where blues won't haunt you anymore
Where brave are free and lovers soar
Come ride with me to the distant shore