It is advised for you to have already read Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried before 
reading the following post because it may (almost definitely) contain(s) spoilers.
There are also references to this interview of Tim O’Brien on PBS.
So, let’s start with The Things They Carried. Apparently there is quite a bit of confusion about which genre The Things They Carried fits under.
Part of this is because the novel is written largely from Tim’s perspective and is about things that happened in some form. (For example, O’Brien really did participate in the Vietnam War and Lemon really did get blown up, except his name was Chip). However, not all of what he describes is true (he doesn’t have a daughter) and many of the names are false, so it is difficult to determine what really happened and what he made up.
As I’m sure you can guess from the above, the two genre’s the Things They Carried keeps bouncing between is nonfiction (autobiography) and fiction.
I, personally, feel its qualifies under both because much of what he writes about really happened and it’s impact reflects the real impact of war upon its participants. It also contains many clearly fictional points, which are either fantastical in description (Lemon being pulled up into the tree) or so realistic you can’t tell it from fact (his “daughter” Kathleen).
The point of view of the novel plays a great role in this confusion, because it is like
O’Brien is talking to the reader in person and telling his story, much like a grandparent or parent tells their children/grandchildren a story of what has happened to them in the past… and maybe embellishing a bit.
When I first read The Things They Carried, I strongly believed that O’Brien really had a daughter named Kathleen. I found out soon after that he never had a daughter and actually had a son many years after he wrote the novel, but at the time I was thoroughly convinced because of the realistic and blunt style of his writing as if it really was a complete account of the most significant or impactful events that happened to him during and after his participation in the Vietnam War.
Now, in the interview, the interviewer mentions how Tim O’Brien used “fiction as a way to get at the truth of the war”, and I find it fascinating how much less impactful the whole
story would be if even a single piece of fiction (like Kathleen’s part) were to be taken out.
To be honest, I don’t really care about which parts were made up. I care more about the impact of the overall story and how it was achieved.
Although it has been and still kind of is a hot topic which genre O’Brien’s novel fits in, I really couldn’t care less.
Overall, while I felt a few of the interviewer’s questions were quite unnecessary, I found the interview quite interesting, intellectually, though a bit… bland at times.
Even though the interview did not change my point of view on anything, I think it is worth watching because they put into words many smart things that both enrich understanding of this novel and that of other novels.
Temporarily Thoughtful 
Like many of those who read “The Things They Carried,” I did not realize that the novel was a work of fiction until after I had finished reading it. Looking back however, I completely agree with your assessment and how even taking one “fictional” excerpt out would have prevented us from receiving the full impact. To understand O’Brien’s bigger picture, it is not the factual accuracy of events that carries weight so much as the development of empathy toward the soldiers.
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When I first started reading The Things They Carried (I don’t know where the italics button is), I was wholly convinced that all the events and characters were real and I was disappointed to learn that O’Brien doesn’t actually have a daughter. However, in the process of discussing the novel, I have come to appreciate O’Brien’s reasoning for the way he wrote his book. I was really annoyed and confused before at the fact that I could not differentiate between false and facts, but when I watched this particular interview I had a self-realization that “oh the point is that we aren’t supposed to know the difference” or care. Although, I placed this novel in the fiction genre, I appreciate your bluntness about not caring, because the point of the novel isn’t to ponder on what genre it is supposed; instead, the point is to take what is given to us in the novel and apply it to the theme of the entire story.
P.S. it seems like interviewers and reporters do ask a ton of silly questions now-a-days.
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