Things to ponder this Memorial Day, on July 4th and Veteran’s Day, and every other day of the year that WE enjoy freedom.

“The Things They Carried” By Tim O’Brien
In the beginning they carried swords and sabres, dirks, Brown Bess’s and flintlock Pennsylvania rifles, fowling pieces, bullet pouches and powder horns, cannon balls and anything else they could scrounge to help defeat the enemy. They dragged themselves and cannon through the mud and snow, the misery of slogging endless miles through the storms of winter and the stultifying heat of summer. They carried the wounded, the dying and the dead. They carried the sure knowledge that as long as one of them was alive the battle was not lost. They carried a dream of Freedom from despotic government, of the Liberty To Insure the Inherent God-Given Rights of all People of the Nation and their Posterity.

Later they carried P-38 can openers and heat tabs, watches and dog tags, insect repellent, gum, cigarettes, Zippo lighters, salt tablets, compress bandages, ponchos, Kool-Aid, two or three canteens of water, iodine tablets, sterno, LRRP rations, and K-rations stuffed in socks. They carried standard fatigues, jungle boots, bush hats, flak jackets and steel pots. They carried M-1’s, then M-16’s. They carried 60mm, 81mm and 4-deuce mortars. They carried ammunition and beer of all varieties. They carried tripflares and Claymore mines, M-60 machine guns, M-79 grenade launchers, M-14’s, CAR-15’s, Stoners, Swedish K’s, 66mm LAWs, shotguns, .45 caliber pistols and “grease-guns”, silencers. They carried the sound of bullets in flight, rockets, and choppers, and sometimes the sound of silence. They carried C-4 plastic explosives, an assortment of hand grenades, PRC-25 radios, knives and machetes. Some troopers kicked them out the door during combat jumps.

Not all at once.

Some carried napalm, CBU’s and large bombs; some risked their lives to rescue others. Some escaped the fear, but dealt with the death and damage. Some made very hard decisions, and some just tried to survive. They carried malnutrition, malaria, dysentery, ringworms and leeches.

They carried the land itself as it hardened on their faces and bellys and boots, if they had any. They carried stationery, pencils, and pictures of their loved ones - real and imagined. They carried love for people in the real world and love for one another. And sometimes they disguised that love: “Don’t mean nothin’!”

They carried memories. For the most part, they carried themselves with poise and a kind of dignity. Now and then, there were times when panic set in, and people squealed or wanted to, but couldn’t. When they twitched and made moaning sounds and covered their heads and said “Dear God”, and hugged the earth and fired their weapons blindly and cringed and begged for the noise to stop and went wild and made stupid promises to themselves and God and their parents, hoping not to die.

They carried the traditions of the United States military, and memories and images of those who served before them. They carried grief, terror, longing and their reputations. They carried the soldier’s greatest fear: the embarrassment of dishonor. They crawled into tunnels, walked point, and advanced under fire, so as not to die of embarrassment. They were afraid of dying, but too afraid to show it.

They carried the emotional baggage of men and women who might die at any moment, who know the terror and horror and futility of war.

They carried the weight of the world.

They carried each other, they carried you and me! Remember them toady and everyday!!