The Things They Carryed

O'Brien writes one sentence saying ''they were tough'' because of the emotions they carried with them. They all feared of dying but they also feared of dying dishonorably. The soldiers carried things with them that told me about what they may have left behind before they entered the Viet Cong war. The soldiers had to go through crazy attacks and stay alive in the jungle at the same time. They had to watch their friends die in front of them from Viet cong fighters.

Many of the men went to Viet Cong because of the draft. Most of them didn't really want to go to war but they were forced to or els they would be jailed. Many people didn't want to turn down the chance to go to Vietnam because it would be dishonorable to their country if they did. They didn't want to live their lives knowing that they ran from something that dishonored them to the people around them. They had to live with this fear knowing that maybe they wont make it back home, that showed me their terrors.

The men in the story carried things with them to show what they gave up to go fight in Vietnam. Kiowa has his fathers axe that was maybe given to his father as a good luck charm or it was something given to him to remember his father if he didn't get a chance to come back home. Henry Dobbins carried his girlfriend's pantyhose, showing that he gave up his girlfriend to go fight in Vietnam or maybe his future wife. Jimmy Cross gave up seeing the girl that he loved named Martha and he carried her picture around with him so he would not forget her. They all left something to fight in Vietnam, their loved ones.

The men had to face crazy attacks from Viet congs and their fears of dying. They spent most of there time walking through the jungles facing booby traps from Viet congs. They spent there nights sleeping in fear and wondering when will it be their turn to die.