Well.. The Things They Carried

Chapter One gave the title of this book a literal meaning. O'Brien described the things that soldiers actually carried: "...P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches..." (page 2). And he also gave us an idea of what soldiers have to physiologically carry: "...the responsibility for the lives of [Cross's] me, ...a silent awe for the terrible power of [some] of the things they carried, ...ghosts, ...imagination,...blame..." (Chapter 1).
I think the emotional baggage that these men carried affected the way they talked, walked, slept, and even fought. Soldiers were stripped of their "humaness" in some ways. Death at home sometimes takes months and years to fully accept and heal, but in war death occurs too often to take that much time to accept. Soldiers sometimes just have to ignore it and treat it like a normal part of life. Instead of mourning the loss of Lavender, all Kiowa can think of is "boom-down" (page 6).
Although they have to ignore it and move on at the time, I think everything they experence will one day hit them hard. War isn't a healthy environment for anyone. As I am reading this book, I am also thinking about my Grandpa, who fought in Vietnam.
If you don't know who Ronald Lee Ermey is, you probably do. He was a drill instructor for the Marines and an actor. He was in Vietnam and talks about it a lot. My Grandpa used to tell us how much he hated him, because "No one who actually fought in Vietman would talk about it". My Grandpa also fought in WWII and he told us all the stories we wanted to hear about it, but that was the only comment he ever gave about Vietnam, which makes me think that the emotional toll from Vietnam was huge.