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 C-rations stuffed in socks.

They carried standard fatigues, jungle boots, bush hats, flak jackets, and steel pots.

They carried the M-16 assault rifle.

They carried trip flares and Claymore mines, M-60 machine guns, the M-70

grenade launcher, M-14's, CAR-15's, Stoners, Swedish K's,

66mm Laws, shotguns, .45 caliber pistols, silencers, the sounds of bullets, rockets and

choppers.

Sometimes the sound of silence.

They carried C-4 plastic explosives, an assortment of hand grenades,

PRC-25 radios, knives and machetes.

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 malaria, dysentery, ringworms, and leaches.

They carried the land itself as it hardened on their boots.

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 with: "It 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 men screamed, or wanted to,

but couldn't; when they twitched and made moaning sounds or just covered their heads,

said "Dear God", hugged the earth and fired their weapons blindly.

Some 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, the 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.

They carried the weight of the world and the weight of every free citizen of America.

Most of all;

THEY CARRIED EACH OTHER

Author Unknown
Submited by
Dewey Fambry
Boomerangs 66-67  RVN
Blackknights 67-68 RVN