In the excerpt from “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien makes a point to say that the things that soldiers carried were divided into different sections: physical necessities, personal necessities, war emotions and personal emotions. If I were a soldier in Jimmy Cross’s unit I believe that I would divide the things I carried in a similar fashion. I would carry food rations, medications for known diseases, protective clothing to deal with the tropical climate, and weapons for protection. These are the basic items that come to my mind when I think of war because each is crucial and vital for the chance to survive will in Vietnam. However, I think that the most important physical necessity I would bring is a journal. I would bring a journal, not because I enjoy writing, but if I was able to express my thoughts on paper maybe I would not have to carry the emotional toll the soldiers and Lieutenant Cross carry around after Ted Lavender dies. I think that a journal would also give me the time to daydream about happier times and events so that I would be able to focus on survival when I was out in the field. In the excerpt Cross says, “they shared the weight of their memories.” I think that they had to share their memories because they were too horrific to keep bottled in their minds. During the war, the soldiers depended on themselves to stay sane and cope with all their emotions; likewise a journal would have been a healthy way for the soldiers to deal with all the pain and horror they witnessed on a daily basis. Finally Cross says, “imagination was killer.” I believe that by keeping yourself occupied would not allow your mind to wander and by doing so you would not be able to come up with the numerous ways you could end up being killed or awful events that you were likely to witness while you were at war.
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