Did he?

I was wondering the same thing. I don't know.

I died then I thought of you and came back to life.
How can you think if you're dead?

I think he just let his friend's b.s. get in the way of what he knew he wanted. He suffered a "relapse" of sorts when he meets back up with them. However, he has learned something about people and about women, and that is why I believe(stop reading if you don't want the ending spoiled!!) he is the only one who survives in the end.

In addition to the helpful comments posted in response to your question, one might also add the "discarding the address" is a convenient narrative device--people sometimes forget they are watching a story, which requires the author(s) to fiddle with things. Had he not discarded her address, then we would assume they would have been writing to each other during his 'Nam tour. We WOULD assume they were writing, but we don't want them to be writing (for the added impact of their re-union). The most economical way to show that they totally lost contact for this period is for him to throw out her address, on screen, so we could see it happen. It is a wholly understandable thing for him to do (as a character) for the reasons cited by others who have replied to your question. Those explanations however only go halfway to justifying it. The other half of the explanation is in the fact that the character is a character in a play that requires certain narrative devices to make the story happen effectively.

It was to prove to the audience that he had no intention of keeping in touch with her.

Remember that he was still a young guy, too, and young guys often act first, think later. I believe he really DID like Rose, but he didn't yet understand the impact that she had made in his life. He had changed forever in that one night, but he either didn't know that yet or didn't want to accept it. So he threw the address away to 1) prove [to his buddies and to himself] that he was still the same carefree Eddie he always was, and 2) to discredit the feelings for Rose he didn't want to accept yet. (This is my opinion, anyway....take it or leave it. :)

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"Close to the end when Birdlace ripped up Roses address, why did he do that i thought he liked her so why did he do that?"

Goofball machismo.

remember what he told his friend while they were shipping out? he said that they were both bullsh@@%ers. he was bullsh***ing himself when he told her he'd write her. in other words, who was he fooling? no one.
loved the ending, though.

vince