The Things They Carried ( 10 )

There were certain items or supplies that each soldier needed to possess that aided in their survival. Other items were discretionary or optional, not entirely important for the

For example, Lt. Jimmy Cross carried letters from Martha that he continually fantasized about. Kiowa carried his grandfather’s old hunting hatchet as a way to hold on to his cultural past. The additional weight depended somewhat upon the soldier’s rank and position. For example, the radiotelephone operator carried a twenty-six pound radio as part of his position.

(Hats), and this went on until all of the gear and clothing was picked up and neatly organized in the recruits footlocker, war bag, and sea bags. We now vaguely

Rat Kiley carried comic books and the medical equipment for the men. Rat Kiley would carry brandy and M&M’s candies for “really bad wounds.” Medical equipment alone can

“War is hell, but that’s not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love. War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead.” (80)

One literary technique prominent in The Things They Carried, particularly in the story by the same name, is symbolism. Throughout this story, O’Brien mentions all the things that the soldiers carry with them, both physical and emotional. However, the physical items that the men carried is more than just

The book opens with Tim O’Brien listing items that the soldiers needed to carry with them for life in Vietnam, such as a P-38 can opener, mosquito repellent, C rations, dog tags, and many more necessities, weighing around twelve to eighteen pounds in total. Many men also had the added weight of weapons needed for combat, which then added another five to twenty-six pounds depending on what weapon and the amount of ammunition necessary. On average, most men carried around thirty pounds, but the load was much higher when considering the emotional and psychological weight put on their shoulders from the impact of these items. Early on in the book Tim O’Brien states, “They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent

The text, ‘The Things They Carried', is an excellent example which reveals how individuals are changed for the worse through their first hand experience of war. Following the lives of the men both during and after the war in a series of short stories, the impact of the war is accurately portrayed, and provides a rare insight into the guilt stricken minds of soldiers. ‘The Things They Carried' shows the impact of the war in its many forms: the suicide of an ex-soldier upon his return home; the lessening sanity of a medic as the constant death surrounds him; the trauma and guilt of all the soldiers after seeing their friends die, and feeling as if they could have saved them; and the deaths of the soldiers, the most negative impact a war

In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien the author tells about his experiences in the Vietnam war by telling various war stories. The quote, "It has been said of war that it is a world where the past has a strong grip on the present, where machines seemed sometimes to have more will power than me, where nice boys (girls) were attracted to them, where bodies ruptured and burned and stand, where the evil thing trying to kill you could look disconnecting human and where except in your imagination it was impossible to be heroic." relates to each of his stories.

Dobbins the biggest man carries the M-60 machine gun that ways twenty three pounds and additionally he carries fifteen pounds of ammunition draped across his upper body. The soldiers also carry dead bodies when necessary, for example they carry Lavender’s body across to the field to wait for the helicopter “He was dead weight” (71). The term used by the soldiers to carry something was “hump” which symbolizes an obstacle. “In it’s transitive form, to hump meant to walk, or to march, but it implied burdens far beyond the intransitive” (69). To comfort themselves they carried items such as canned peaches, toothbrush, tranquilizers, diary, condoms and an old hunting hatchet. When the men discarded some of the weight, they knew of only two ways. The first is by throwing away weight while on marches. ”They would often discard things along the route of the march” (71), the soldiers would do this because they knew that helicopters would always come with fresh supplies. The second method is to die on the field. “Go limp and tumble to the ground and let the muscles unwind and not speak and not budge...” (81).

Another substantially detailed necessity of the men is their military supplies. O'Brien goes into minute detail, for literally pages, describing the supplies that the men used for defense purposes. Primarily, he lists the standard weaponry for war, the typical rifles, grenades, and defensive clothing such as the flak jacket and helmet (6- 7). He relates the enormous burden of weight that Ted Lavender was carrying when he was shot, and how that weight caused him to fall like "a big sandbag or something - just boom, then down." (7) The next passage describes all of the extra weapons they carried, ranging from fragmentation grenades to brass knuckles

If the soldiers found a weapon worth carrying they would pick it up such as, captured AK-47’s and black market Uzis. All of the men in the platoon carried sentimental items. Some carried good luck items and some just souvenirs from their tour. For example Jimmy Cross carried pictures and letters from a girl that didn’t love him like he wanted. Kiowa carried a bible.

This would accept either 20- or 30-round stick magazines. Early war (M1928) Thompsons also accepted 50, 100, or 200 round drum magazines. Each squad was also to have a BAR (Browning automatic rifle). This weapon was big but was a fully automatic weapon that could lay down suppressive fire. It had some serious stopping power. In addition to this, there was the flame thrower, which saw more action in the Pacific theater. Hand grenades were another weapon issued to combat troops. Also when assaulting bunkers or other fixed emplacements, they would satchel charges .30 and .50 caliber MG teams (2-3 men: 1 firer, 1-2 loaders/carriers) might be attached to rifle platoons as needed, along with the mortar teams.

Tracer ammo are bullets or gun gauge projectiles that was manufactured for a small pyrotechnic charge to their base. Lighted by the smoldering powder, the pyrotechnic piece would smolders exceptionally brightly, making the projectile trajectory unmistakable of the exposed eye throughout daylight, and altogether splendid during the night time. This enabled those shooters on settle on making amendments without watching the sway of the rounds let go, also without utilizing the sights of the weapon. At use, tracers would normally be stacked, similarly as each fifth round over automatic weapon belts, This was known as a four-to-one tracer. Platoon or squad members with a high ranking will load tracer rounds in their magazine to significantly utilize singulare tracers on mark were the troops should focus their fire power. Tracers would likewise be put two or three rounds from the lowest part of magazine to caution the shooter that the weapon needs to be reloaded. However, the whole magazine might have been stacked four-to-one, for both

Tom Murphy was more prepared than John Colten. Murphy had a backpack that weighed up to 70-80 pounds. in the back pack he brought with him. food, water, a small stove. heavy sleeping bag, emergency kit, warm coat, gloves, and a small shelter.