THE THINGS THEY CARRIED:

 

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. The 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 sound of bullets, 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 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: "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. 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
Dewey Fambry
Boomerangs 66-67  RVN
Blackknights 67-68 RVN

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