Things They Carried
“The Things They Carried” Readers are introduced to Lieutenant James Cross, the platoon leader in “The Things They Carried” rather abruptly. As the title indicates, this short story is about things carried—carried by American soldiers in Vietnam. ... Among other things, Cross carries letters from a girl back home in the States named Martha. ... Among the objects carried by the men, O’Brien notes de rigeur military items such as canteens filled with water, ammunition, and the like, as well as intangible things, “…infections…diseases…” and conceptual things, “They carried the sky”. ... In addition to Martha’s letters carried by Cross, he also keeps photographs of her, and a pebble she sent him as a keepsake.