What does tim o'brien mean by true war story? does he mean a story that is true? what does he mean?

obrien says something about a true war story not being true. I am really confused. i need to write an essay on weather or not the ';sweetheart of the song tra bong'; is a true war story. Can a war story be true if its not the truth?What does tim o'brien mean by true war story? does he mean a story that is true? what does he mean?
The term ';war story'; is sometimes used to connote such a difficult battle or struggle, that it could be called a ';war';, even if there was no real war going on. Many ex-soldiers are also rumored to exaggerate in retrospect about their harrowing experiences and brushes with death on the battle field such that their credibility may be called into question.





So the term ';true war story'; may refer to either a story that occurred during a real war and where the action did happen and is not being exaggerated. Or alternatively, it could apply to a story involving a struggle that was SO serious, SO large, and SO long-lived, that it could be called ';a war'; and not just a skirmish or lesser battle, even though there was no actual war from a literal sense. It was just a battle or competition that was unusually fierce such that invoking the moniker of ';war'; is justified from the participants' perspective.