Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

Tim O’Brien is a very gifted author, but he is also a veteran of the Vietnam War and fought with the United States in that controversial war. Tim O’Brien was drafted into the Vietnam War in 1968. He served as an infantryman, and obtained the rank of sergeant and won a Purple Heart after being wounded by shrapnel. He was discharged from the Vietnam War in 1970. I believe that O’Brien’s own images and past experiences he encountered in the Vietnam War gave him inspiration to write the story “The Things They Carried.” O’Brien tells the story in third person narrative form about Lt. Jimmy Cross and his platoon of young American men in the Vietnam War. In “The Things They Carried” we can see differences and similarities between the characters
Each soldier carried at least twenty pounds of supplies, weapons, and rations on their backs. They would walk all day, and all night. They didn’t even know where they were going or where they would stop. The things they carried were largely determined by necessity. Tim O’Brien writes “Some of the necessities were 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, C rations and two or three canteens of water. By necessity, and because it was standard operating procedure they all carried steel helmets that weighed five pounds. On their feet they carried jungle boots, which weighed two pounds. They also carried a steel-centered nylon covered flak jacket which weighed seven pounds” (O’Brien 266). Besides the three standard weapons- the M-60, M-16, and M-79, they carried whatever they thought appropriate. The men would sometimes discard ammunition during the day along the trail to lighten their weight. They did this because the choppers would be coming the next morning to give them more ammo. They often smoked dope together and picked fun at one another during the evening to pass the time. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross wasn’t all there when leading the troops through the day and night. A girl named Martha had his
Kiowa cannot cry and all he can think about is that he is alive. He is not dead, and how good it feels to be alive. I feel Kiowa is carrying a heavy burden on his heart being away from his family, and defending a country that his relatives don’t trust. He remains true to his family by reading his bible and caring for his brothers in war.
All the characters in “The Things They Carried” carried different things that meant the world to them. All of the soldiers were terrified of death and were even more scared to show it. They joked after each enemy bombing that they almost peed their pants and such. They really almost did each enemy encounter, and they all knew it. They would turn into a young man and fear for their life, and ask god to please take them far away from this horrible place, but when the firing stop they would stand up and turn into soldiers again. All of these young men carried the emotional baggage of men who might die. They all carried thoughts of grief, terror, love, and longing. They carried shameful memories. They carried the common secret of cowardness. These young soldiers killed, and they died, all because they were embarrassed not