“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is a novella based on the Vietnam war, but more importantly a troop of soldiers and the belongings they carry, both physical and emotional. The Vietnam war was unique in its own way, but it can be compared culturally in a few aspects. When looking at the Vietnam War versus the Afghanistan War, the two are comparable based on soldier treatment, the literal change and development of war equipment, and the constant use of items to distract soldiers, all of which affected soldiers mentally and physically. Connections can be made on how war changed and developed, but the mental and emotional impacts on the battlefield affected the soldiers that served in them the same way both during and after.

When looking at soldier’s treatment between the wars, it’s clear to see the views that the outside world has towards veterans is a factor in their emotional and mental stability. In “The Things They Carried” soldiers clung on to whatever they could to distract them from the war in Vietnam. Many veterans of the war suffered PTSD and other mental problems because of its brutality, but also from coming home. Soldiers were expected to return to normal working conditions after the Vietnam war, as this was before veteran benefits, and for many the transition was extremely daunting (Journal of Health and Social Behavior, pg. 85). According to the text, in war they would hold on to things like dope, or letters to keep them “home” as stated by Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, but when veterans arrived home they were treated like regular people and where unable to cope with the change.

 After Afghanistan veterans had benefits. They still struggled with coming home, but often they weren’t sent to work immediately and had better insurances and help transitioning home. However, they suffered horrible stress and mental factors from the public as this, in historian George McGovern’s words: “[the Vietnam War] was an utter, unmitigated disaster, so it was very hard for me to say anything good about it”. Veterans were treated like murderers, mindless soldiers that did evil in a foreign land for an unnecessary war. "PTSD was one of the highest recorded mental illnesses in the years following the war, Veterans felt cheated and used, most agree the transition home through protests and riots was harder than being off home soil.” (Anger, Hostility, and Aggression). While the treatments after the war were different, the results from both wars are similar. It was hard on soldiers on and off foreign soil, despite the differences in time and cultures during each one.

Over time the weapons and equipment changed as war itself developed. “The Things They Carried” very literally talked about the weapons and gadgets soldiers had, their weight and their effects on the people carrying them. “As an RTO, Mitchell Sanders carried a PRC-25 radio, a killer, 26 pounds with its battery.” (“The Things They Carry”), in the Vietnam war technology had not developed to what it had in the Afghanistan war. Soldiers struggled with heavier, simpler equipment that physically tasked them. Author O’Brien constantly repeated equipment in long sentences without punctuation breaks, this writing technique allows the reader to feel the plight of the soldiers, making the exhaustion almost palpable in the reader’s heads. A lot of the mental issues that veterans from Vietnam came back with were caused by long treks through the foreign lands with massive amounts of weight from equipment. The Journal of Health and Social Behavior refers to the physical struggle of the soldiers, comparing it to “slavery in a sense. The human body can only take so much, and the impact is so profound it leaves a mental scar as well as physical.” The equipment from the Vietnam War left soldiers feeling like mules, those that got over the physical repercussions struggled to shake the feelings of PTSD after such daunting conditions.

War changed along with the American soldier, however even going from Vietnam to Afghanistan, the weapons of war still caused damage to the minds of soldiers. Afghanistan had better weapons, they were deadlier, lighter, and more proficient (The Lessons of Afghanistan, page 82, P4), however the plight on the American soldier remained the same. While weapons had developed so the physicality was easier to cope with, those developments lead to deadlier enemies as well. Unlike in Vietnam, a soldier was not safe even a mile away from an opponent’s rifle. In Lessons of Afghanistan, stories were told from veterans watching their platoon brothers, often best friends as well, get shot right next to them from unimaginable distances. One soldier whose identity was kept anonymous in Lessons of Afghanistan recalls playing with an empty can with his troop mate, only to kick it back and witness his friend’s chest explode from a bullet. In response, they ran for miles in retreat, never knowing if he or another soldier would take a bullet to the back. So, while they physically were not held down by the weights of equipment, soldiers in Afghanistan suffered severe cases of mental issues because of the change in technology. They did not collapse from exhaustion nearly like the soldiers in Vietnam did, but they suffered new threats that cause horrible mental issues, and in that anonymous veteran’s words “the feeling of the unknown, the feeling like someone, somewhere, could end your life, that’s enough to make someone lose their sanity.” (Lessons of Afghanistan, prologue),

 The Vietnam and Afghanistan wars were different, they evolved with the humans that started them, however despite treatment of soldiers, the changes in technology, and the tough transitions after the war, one constant factor in both wars is a soldier’s use of mementos. The Journal of Health and Social Behavior, volume 25, Anger, Hostility, and Aggression, and War mementos and the souls of missing soldiers are pieces on mental issues of soldiers. What’s notable about them though is despite one being about Vietnam and the others about Afghanistan, a lot of the topics and final study results on the causes of mental illness are the same in their interviews. These wars took place 47 years apart, but the mental issues impacting veterans were astonishingly similar. A majority of soldiers came back after killing unable to recover, and one overly predominant theme in every article are the soldiers clinging to thoughts of home. This gives massive credibility to “The Things They Carry” in a cultural aspect. O’Brien’s characters each had something on them that was from home, whether it was an actual reminder of home like Kiowa’s bible from his father, or something to use to escape the war and “go back home” like Lavender’s dope, they carried things. “Many soldiers had pictures of loved ones, small items like rings and handkerchiefs.” (War mementos and the souls of missing soldiers). The soldiers used these mementos as escapes from their surroundings. “In a Vietnam veteran now taxi driver, H. S.’ words: “It’s a lot easier to trek through a desert when you have a picture of what your missing back home” (when questioned about a nude picture of a women in his war journal which turned out to be his wife)” (War mementos and the souls of missing soldiers). Mementos were used in both wars, undeterred by the differences in time and culture.

War damages everyone, especially the soldiers in them. While numerous physical damage and death should be extremely noted, the mental issues that veterans were plagued by are as equally as important. “The Things They Carry” is culturally accurate, and brings up many of the points that can cause the mental issues veterans experienced, from physically insane challenges to mental baggage. The Vietnam War and Afghanistan War soldiers struggled with similar challenges, however one constant factor from both wars and the novella is the use of mementos as a safe-haven for soldiers. Despite changes in technology, and veteran care, culturally the wars were the same in that, mental issues followed veterans after and the things they carried were indispensable tools.
