The majority of material items these men are carrying are out of necessity. “Among the necessities or near-necessities were P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wrist watches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, sewing kits, Military payment Certificates, C rations, and two or three canteens of water” (O’Brien page, 2).
Other items these soldiers “humped” around were more for comfort and nostalgia. “On ambush, or other night missions, they carried peculiar little odds and ends. Kiowa always took along his New Testament and a pair of moccasins for silence. Dave Jensen carried night-sight vitamins high in carotene. Lee Strunk carried his slingshot; ammo, he claimed, would never be a problem. Rat Kiley carried brandy and M&M's. Until he was shot, Ted Lavender carried the starlight scope, which weighed 63 pounds with its aluminum carrying case. Henry Dobbins carried his girlfriend's panty hose wrapped around his neck as a comforter” (O’Brien, 9).
Some of the things they carried depended on their survival. “In addition to the three standard weapons-the M-60, M-16, and M-79-they carried whatever presented itself, or whatever seemed appropriate as a means of killing or staying alive” (O’Brien, 7).
Most importantly what these men were carrying was intangible. They are lugging around their hopes, fears, and memories. “They carried the sky. The whole atmosphere, they carried it, the humidity, the monsoons, the stink of fungus and decay, all of it, they carried gravity” (O’Brien, 15).
There is much emphasis on the weight of material items being carried. ”As PFCs or Spec 4s, most of them were common grunts and carried the standard M-16 gas-operated assault rifle. The weapon weighed 75 pounds unloaded, 8.2 pounds with its full twenty-round magazine” (O’Brien, 5). This is an analogy for what’s really weighing them down. It gives a strong feeling of the burden and pressure these men are coping with. The author mentions the men discarding physical items, but they cannot rid themselves of what is within. Really, they can’t let go of that part of them or they would also loose memories of lost soldiers and also the love and longing that got them through such tough times.
http://www.mohs.k12.hi.us/media-central/docs/images/OR-sample-graphic.jpg
Picture source:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.mohs.k12.hi.us/media-central/docs/images/OR-sample-graphic.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.mohs.k12.hi.us/media-central/docs/index-docs.html&usg=__YeU25sy4HiWg-ecTXnEM7BApjjM=&h=1200&w=1800&sz=181&hl=en&start=0&sig2=pB4-94QYEvJ4_lU8DqXj0w&zoom=1&tbnid=FnDx_BMvHAbppM:&tbnh=110&tbnw=157&ei=qSudTOaVK4XMswao4YTnDg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dthe%2Bthings%2Bthey%2Bcarried%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DjqH%26sa%3DX%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1227%26bih%3D541%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C4&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=287&vpy=246&dur=383&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=144&ty=109&oei=qSudTOaVK4XMswao4YTnDg&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:0&biw=1227&bih=541
Video source:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JNGwiYwRtk
