




Tim O’Brien, the author of “The Things They Carried”, wrote about his time serving for the United States during the Vietnam War. This novel was about all the different things carried by the soldiers that were in his group going through the mountains of Vietnam. O’Brien talked about his own personal items and the things that his crew brought. Each item was unique to each soldier, including their guns and personal items from home. Every item that they carried meant something different from pictures of loved ones to candies to cigarettes and knives. The weapons and military items they carried were however based on their status of ranking. The higher the ranking status, the more advanced the weaponry was as well as the weight limit they had to carry. The first lieutenants and the platoons carried the least amount of weight, while the riflemen carried the most weight and the most ammunition. Looking through the historical and cultural aspects behind this notion, it seems like this to be common among all military bases and groups. What also was noticed about the historical aspect of what military personnel carried was how different infantries handled carrying their belongings. They all based it on different characteristics like weight and munition provided. O’Brien’s take on the different things that were carried among the men he was with is relatable to other’s stories and backgrounds in the military. 

When determining ranking status in the military it is usually based on skill level and timed served previously. In the journal, “Voting Patterns Among High-Ranking Military Officers”, it talks about the different rankings of military and how they come about. “The military have become increasingly more active in matters usually termed ‘political’” (Riper and Unwalla, 48). The political stand point in this situation is that the higher officers may be voted on based on whether or not they would be experienced. According to this journal, it was also based on different questions asked, like their voting status in a United States election. “This was to recognize the special suffrage problems of the military as a result of geographical movement and the difficulty of establishing residence or of accomplishing absentee ballots in many cases” (Riper and Unwalla, 49). During the time that O’Brien served may have based their ranking on voting as well as the time this journal was written.  

When comparing some of the infantries from other countries, it is noticed that they also base what they carry on what level of status a soldier holds. An example of this is the Roman soldiers. Almost all of Rome served in the military and where they were placed was mainly based on their personal wealth in the census. “The highest ranks were held by high ranking civilian magistrates who had served many years of military service but were magistrates nonetheless” (Milani-Santarpia). Those who were known as magistrates would carry a weight of 35-45K of supplies and most of this did not even include the weapons. This shows that there is a big role of ranking among all infantries and the more important and the higher the class you were, you did not have to withstand carrying a large load.    

One would believe that carrying less things while moving across a country would be ideal, however this was not the case for Tim O’Brien and his troops as well as other historical military infantries. There are always the necessary items like food, water, weapons, and medications that need to be brought but they added more to this load. Most of these items were personal, from pictures to shaving items, and extra ammo. Many of the men believed that it was all necessary to bring. When comparing with other military infantries and how they handled what they carry, it seemed to be related. The basic things were brought among everyone and then the individual items were added to them. 

    



