There is no argument that War is very stressful and can leave permanent memories on the people in war, and the people close to those soldiers who are back home wondering what is happening with their loved ones. The Vietnam War is no exception to that. The Vietnam War is one of the most, if not the most, controversial times of war in the history of the United States of America. But this essay is not about how society viewed the war. This essay is about how the soldiers and those close to them went through the war. The thoughts and feelings that went through their heads. Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” is a great portal into the minds of the soldiers and their loved ones during the war. By looking at the Vietnam War, in terms of “The Things They Carried”, we can see that the Vietnam War had much more of an effect on the US and its soldiers than what was originally thought. This is important because the soldiers came home suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and there were different ways throughout history in dealing with the disorder. 

The soldiers bring many artifacts to battle with them. It is common knowledge that soldiers often bring artifacts from home to battle. This was a common strategy to calm the soldiers when they were at war. “First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, a junior at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey.” (O’Brien 328) Martha was Lieutenant Jimmy Cross’s escape from the warfare. He found peace from her letters although they were not romantic. They were reminders of home.  According to the things they carried, soldiers would also leave items at the battle field. “In addition, our emotional attachments sometimes must be severed by physically giving up objects if one is to ever move beyond anxiety, fear, depression and/or loneliness.” (Krajeck 46) The process of leaving the items on the battlefield is symbolic for attempting to leave the memories on the battlefield, and not bringing the haunting memories of battle back home. The soldiers go to war carrying items from home, but leave carrying memories from war. 

There is a lot that was carried on the battlefield by the soldiers in the reading. “Among the necessities or near-necessities were P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, sewing kits, Military Payment Certificates, C rations and two or three canteens of water.” (O’Brien 328) In that, there is a lot of blueprints for memories to trigger Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. According to Jonathan Bisson, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder can be triggered by seeing, hearing, or feeling cues that were present at the time of the traumatic event that could have caused the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. (789) With that being said, the fact that the soldiers had to carry so many things on them at a time, that there is a lot of potential triggers to be set if the soldiers witness a traumatic event. There is no doubt that the war had a serious effect on the soldiers for their entire lives. But with the help of those back home, the war was made a little easier. “In the first week of April, before Lavender died, Lieutenant Cross received a good-luck charm from Martha. It was a simple pebble, an ounce at most.” (O’Brien 331) Lieutenant Lavender kept that pebble in his pocket for a majority of his time in Vietnam. With that emotional memory from back home, from a close acquaintance from back home, Lieutenant Cross was given a window away from the stress that was given to him by the war. The difference between the memories given by the pebble and the memories given by the things that were given by the military to carry are much different. The reason that the pebble could potentially avoid being a trigger for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is that the pebble already gas given memories on it. It has the memories the Lieutenant Cross shared with Martha. The objects given by the military did not have memories correlated with them yet. If Lieutenant Cross witnessed something very traumatic with the pebble in his pocket, it is more likely that he would search for the pebble for relief of the stress of the situation, than for him to correlate the pebble with the traumatic situation. Something else on his body, such as a type of Kool-Aid that he was carrying could more likely be correlated with the event. With artifacts from home, the memories are already made. With artifacts received while at war, the memories are about to be made. 

The artifacts that are brought to the Vietnam War by the soldiers, is their window home. The reading is our window into the war. The reading and the outside sources go hand in hand. Krajeck’s piece on the reading itself is very interesting. Bisson’s explanation of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder puts it into perspective about how the soldiers got their Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. “Studies have reported an incidence of more than 50% for rape, 30-40% for disasters, and around 19% for Veterans of the Vietnam War.” (Bisson 790) That does not seem nearly as a high of percentage that you would expect from the war, however not everybody in Vietnam saw something traumatizing. Also, while reading that a mere 19% of the total were affected, remember than 2.7 million people served in the Vietnam. 19% of 2.7 million people is quite a lot of affected people. And with no way of curing the disorder, considering that there isn’t really a way to avoid a traumatic event, it will either happen or it will not happen, just proves that Veterans of any war need respect in the first place.

The Vietnam War affects how the reading is perceived, however the reading also affects how the Vietnam War is perceived as well. While reading the excerpt, scrolling over all the details of what camp was like and what warfare was like, it gives an image of what war was like. War has always been one of those events that a person does not truly understand until they experience it first-hand themselves. This puts into perspective how important it is that the loved ones back home keep their ties with those deployed. College students get excited when their mom bakes them cookies and sends them in a care package. Imagine how exciting it must have been for Lieutenant Cross to get a letter from Martha, or for Lavender to get a new shipment of dope. Reading the outside sources has left nothing but an impact of respect for the soldiers.

By looking at the Vietnam War, in terms of “The Things They Carried”, we can see that the Vietnam War had much more of an effect on the US and its soldiers than what was originally thought. This is important because the soldiers came home suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and it is a serious disorder that is not often open to the public eye. Many of the soldiers deployed went to war sane, and came back with the disorder. War is immensely tough on the psychology of a human being. With their artifacts from home, the soldiers can fight off some of the stress that is brought upon them from warfare, however not all of it. A pebble in the pocket is not going to stop you from having flashbacks of something truly traumatic, however it may give you courage in a time of need. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a serious issue amongst our veterans who are back from warfare, and should be shed more into the public light. There is no proven way of dealing with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, so the only thing that can be done is for them to focus on their artifacts from home and remember the positive memories, however that is almost impossible to do. “The Things They Carried” hold many examples of how the soldiers used artifacts from home to give them optimism in a time of need. 
