Is The Things They Carried an anti-war story?

The great thing about good literature is that different readers are going to extrapolate different meanings and messages from a literary text. That is why good literature has the power to spark meaningful discussions and promote various viewpoints on the text. The Things They Carried is no different. A reader may certainly feel that it is an anti-war piece of literature; however, other readers may feel that the text is aimed at informing non-combat experienced readers about what it meant to be a soldier during this (any) war. The book does show the graphic nature of war and the traumatizing mental and physical effects that combat has on these men, but there are moments in the text that show a deep brotherhood and bond between these soldiers. Personally, I wouldn't go so far as calling the novel an anti-war book, but I would never say that the book falls into the trap of glorifying war like so many John Wayne or Clint Eastwood movies of old tended to do. I see the book more like I view literature pieces about war by an author like Stephen Crane. They share an unflinching view of realism about war and combat.

The Things They Carried is not pedantic in conveying an anti-war message, but it could be read as an anti-war text. Instead of trying to convince the reader of any specific moral position, the author forces the reader to face the inherent ugliness of war and the reality of the physical and psychological marks it leaves.
Graphic imagery, like the repeated references to the "star-shaped hole" the narrator leaves in a Vietnamese man's face, drive home the violence and destruction of war. Other stories in the book, like "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" (a story in which a hometown girl is drawn into the violence of covert operations and eventually "goes native" in Vietnam), focus on the dehumanizing nature of war and the way it can take over and change a fighter's personality. Finally, some stories (like "Love") show the trouble soldiers have while re-adapting to civilian life and the lasting psychological burdens of war.