The Things They Carried

Literal:

Jimmy Cross (lieutenant and platoon leader) – Letters from a girl named Martha (burned), Two photographs of Martha (burned), compass, maps, code books, binoculars, .45-caliber pistol (2.9 lbs), strobe light, Good luck charm from Martha - pebble

Henry Dobbins (machine gunner) – Extra rations, M-60 (23 lbs), Ammunition (10-15 lbs), girlfriends pantyhose as a neck comforter, Black Flag insecticide

Dave Jensen – Toothbrush, dental floss, hotel-sized bars of soap, three pairs of socks, can of Dr. Scholl’s foot powder, night-sight vitamins high in carotene, Earplugs, empty sandbags for protection

Lee Strunk – Slingshot, tanning lotion Ted Lavender (deceased) – Tranquilizers, 6 or 7 ounces of premium dope (marijuana), 34 rounds

of M-79 ammo, 20 lbs of ammunition total, starlight scope (6.3 lbs) Mitchell Sanders (Radio Telephone Operator) – Condoms, PRC-25 radio (26 lbs), brass knuckles,

a set of starched tiger fatigues for special occasions, lice Norman Bowker – Diary, Checkers, Thumb of teenage boy Rat Kiley (medic) –Satchel (20 lbs) filled with morphine, plasma, malaria tablets, surgical tape,

“all the things a medic must carry”, M&M’s, Comic books, brandy Kiowa – Illustrated New Testament, Grandfather’s old hunting hatchet, moccasins for silence PFC (private first class) (Spec 4s) (Grunts) – M-16 gas-operated assault rifles (7.5-8.2 lbs), 12-20

magazines in cloth bandoliers (8.4-14 lbs), M-16 maintenance gear – rods and steel brushes and swabs and tubes of LSA oil, M-79 Grenade Launcher (5.9 lbs), 25 rounds of ammo for the M-79 (10 ounces each), Claymores (3.5 lbs), fragmentation grenades (14 oz), M-18 colored smoke grenade (24 oz), CS or tear gas grenades, white phosphorous grenades (Willie Petes)

Mountains – Mosquito Netting, Machetes, Canvas Tarps, Extra Bug Juice Missions – 28 pound mine detector, one pound blocks of pentrite high explosives, wiring,

detonators, battery-powered clackers, Superstition: Jimmy Cross – Pebble, Dave Jenson – Rabbit’s foot, Norman Bowker – Thumb

from a VC The wounded, the weak, the dead Chess sets, basketballs, Vietnamese-English dictionaries, insignia of rank, Bronze Stars and

Purple Hearts, plastic cards imprinted with the Code of Conduct. USO stationery, pencils and pens, Sterno (canned heat), safety pins, trip flares, signal flares, spools of wire, razor blades, chewing tobacco, liberated joss sticks and statuettes of the smiling Buddha, candles, grease pencils, The Stars and Stripes, fingernail clippers, Psy Ops leaflets, bush hats, bolos, hot chow in green mermite cans and large canvas bags filled with iced beer and soda pop, plastic water containers, each with a 2-gallon capacity, fresh watermelons and crates of ammunition and sunglasses and woolen sweaters, sparklers for the Fourth of July, colored eggs for Easter, M-14s, CAR-15s, Swedish Ks, Grease Guns (M3 submachine guns), AK-47s, Chi-Coms (either a gun, or a type of burlap bag to hold things – most likely), RPGs, Simonov carbines, black market Uzis, .38-caliber Smith & Wesson handguns, 66 mm LAWS, shotguns, silencers, blackjacks (knives?), bayonets, C-4 Explosives, Photographs, Entrenching tool, Toilet Paper, Steel helmets (5 lbs) (Standard Operating Procedure), Steel-centered, nylon-covered flak jacket (6.7 lbs)

(Standard Operating Procedure), Green plastic poncho (2 lbs), Fatigue Jackets and Trousers, Few carried underwear, Jungle boots (2.1 lbs), p-38 can openers, Pocket Knives, Heat tabs, Wristwatches, Dog Tags, Mosquito repellent, Chewing Gum, Candy, Cigarettes, Salt Tablets, Packets of Kool-Aid, Lighters, Matches, Sewing Kits, Military Payment Certificates, C Rations, Canteens of water, the stink of fungus and decay, gravity, Infections, diseases like malaria and dysentery, lice, ringworms, leeches, paddy algae, various rots and molds, the land itself (dirt)

Figurative:

Kiowa – Distrust of white men, religion Jimmy Cross – Love, Responsibility for the lives of his men, Martha, The death of Ted Ted Lavender – Fear Norman Bowker – Grief for Kiowa O’Brien – Resentment, Guilt for Kiowa All – Silent awe for the terrible power they carried, fear, ghosts of their pasts, duty, worries Carried the sky, the atmosphere, the humidity, the monsoons, Dignity, and shame, Shameful

memories, Reputations, Trust for one another All the emotional baggage of men who might die, grief, terror, love, longing The common secret of cowardice barely restrained The soldier’s greatest fear, the fear of blushing. Avoiding the blush of dishonor