The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a book that focuses on what life was like for a group of soldiers during the Vietnam War, with the constant marching and being forced to live for extended periods of time in unsanitary condtions. The author wrote this book in a way that blends fact and fiction, so that the reader does not know what events were true and which ones never happened. The focus of this book was meant to be on how they carry both a physical and mental weight with them because of the war.. Requiem for Vietnam: Reflections and Countertransferences of a Psychoanalyst by Jacob D. Lindy and “Vietnam and US: Haunting Legacy”, an article by M.S.S. in Economic and Political Weekly both provide context to what the Vietnam War was like for these soldiers. These writings shine a light into the mental damage that was inflicted on these men during the Vietnam War. The PTSD experienced by many soldiers long after the war has been well documented as shown in these papers.  

The Things They Carried is written in the first person from the point of view of a member of unit of US Army soldiers during the Vietnam War. The book talks extensively about everything that the characters of the book carry with themselves during their time overseas. There were things that they carried such as their standard equipment that allowed them to live with some degree of comfort, like “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”. They also carried things that were personal to them. Henry Dobbins carried extra rations, Dave Jensen carried extra hygiene products, and Ted Lavender carried tranquilizers and marijuana as a way to cope with the stresses of their everyday life. Mitchell Sanders carried condoms, Norman Bowker carried a diary, Rat Kiley carried comic books, and Kiowa carried the New Testament, his grandmother’s distrust of the white man, and his grandfather’s old hunting hatchet. They also had to carry personal safety equipment such as steel helmets, the standard fatigue jacket and trousers, jungle boots, and a steel-centered, nylon covered flak jacket. They also carried a large compress bandage, and a green plastic poncho with a quilted liner that could be used for a variety of purposes. They also had to carry their weapons, typically the standard M-16 gas operated assault rifle, along with between twelve to twenty magazines of extra ammunition. Some carried other weapons as well, such as the M-79 grenade launcher and the M-60 machine gun that Henry Dobbins carried. Along with the physical weight of everything that they carried, there was a significant psychological weight as a well. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried the weight of his obsession and love for a girl back home named Martha, but more importantly they all carried the weight of the death of Ted Lavender. Lavender was unexpectedly shot and killed on a routine mission while everyone’s guard was down. After his body was taken away, the men burned down the nearest village of Than Khe, completely destroying everything in their sight. This was very unusual for them; they had never displayed that level of brutality at any point in the story before. This shows how much this affected the mind of all of those soldiers for them to be driven to that point. Lieutenant Cross felt directly responsible for his death, considering he was distracted by his thoughts about Martha, and struggled to process his grief over the situation. 

Requiem for Vietnam: Reflections and Countertransferences of a Psychoanalyst was written after the author conducted interviews with people who fought during the Vietnam War. Within his interviews, he would ask questions about the war, and about the quality of their lives afterwards. He would often find that they still dealt with issues related to PTSD that had a negative impact on their everyday lives and lowered their quality of life. These issues were still present over thirty years after their time in the war. This is relevant to The Things They Carried because it provides another viewpoint of what the Vietnam War, and war in general, mentally does to the people who are unfortunate enough to be involved in it. 

“Vietnam War and US: Haunting Legacy” is an article in Economic and Political Weekly by M.S.S. The topic of the article was the public opinion of the war and the how the more gruesome details of the war were received. The article mentions the massive public outcry to the war after the media was able to spread detailed information about what occurred. This has led to the military’s current policy of restricting access from the media to designated areas that are deemed safe and acceptable to be seen by the general public. This article gives yet another perspective on the war, but this time from the point of view of the American public. The characters in The Things They Carried have become desensitized to the violence that they are surrounded by every day, but the average American back home would be horrified by what they saw from photographs collected by the media. While The Things They Carried shows the hardships of war from a more psychological viewpoint, this article shows the hardships from a more emotional viewpoint as it discusses the emotional reaction of the public and how it impacted public opinion at the time. Essentially, the things that happened during the war were not meant to be seen by human eyes, the people actively involved in the war were used to it, but the average person back home would be unable to process what they saw. 

The Vietnam War was the first time that the public opinion of the country was heavily skewed against the conflict that was happening overseas. The average American citizen felt that the conflict was an unnecessary use of taxpayer money and a waste of resources and the human lives that were put into harm’s way. The public outcry was caused by the institution of the draft, and the presence of the media in the areas of conflict. The things that were done during the conflict were too egregious for the public to support, for example, the way that the characters in The Things They Carried burned down the village in their anger over the death of Ted Lavender. Those actions are something that only people involved in the war would begin to understand. Things such as seeing your friend die right in front of you, and committing horrible acts like burning down an entire village, weigh heavily on the conscience of those men. It is for that reason that PTSD is so prevalent in veterans of that conflict. All three of these writings give insight into the impact of the Vietnam War on the individuals involved in it, and support the theme of how damaging war is to the human psyche. 