This could be due to the respect and honor they have, but it could also be due to the real fear of the soldiers. “I survived, but it's not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to war." (O'Brien) O'Brien essentially brands himself as having allowed shame and fear to overcome all of his principles. He suggests that the strong thing to do would be to run away but instead he was weak and scared. He finds himself in the same position Ted Lavender was in, where he is overcome with fear and knows it won't help him.