In The Things They Carried, there are many emotional burdens that each soldier must bear. These burdens are, for the most part, physically present in a soldier's daily life, while others, such as the love of someone back home, may not be as physically evident. The book follows the life of Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, the leader of a regiment fighting during the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War was perceived as a terrible time of massacres, guerrilla warfare and peace protests on the home front. During the Vietnam War, the United States helped fight alongside the South Vietnamese Army, whose ultimate goal was to overthrow the communist government of North Vietnam and hopefully reunite the country under a better government. During wartime, soldiers are required to carry many things, such as the obvious weight of weapons, ammunition, and field equipment. Some carry “near necessities” such as cigarettes, drugs, chewing gum and mosquito repellent. Many of these items constitute a dark amount of weight that they have to lug around on a daily basis. For each soldier, however, there is something extra they will bring with them, something of much more value that may not have been standard operating procedure. There are examples of transported comics, photographs of loved ones, and even a more personal and profound “distrust of the white man” (97). Jimmy Cross has many burdens to bear in the performance of his duty due to his leadership position as a platoon leader and first lieutenant. According to his rank, Cross is required to carry with him such things as maps, code books, a compass, his gun, and responsibility for the lives of his men. Jimmy carries with him memories of his love back home, Martha. She carries with her two photos of herself, a letter that she... in the middle of the paper... but she couldn't, when they writhed and made moaning sounds, covered their heads and said Dear Jesus and let go. on the ground and fired their weapons blindly” (104). Along with daily life, soldiers brought with them their reputation and “the fear of blushing” (105). At any moment they could have abandoned the war and returned home to life, love and a warm bed, but they never did. This was not due to courage, but rather the soldiers being too afraid to be cowards. War isn't just about the physical things soldiers carry with them every day. The things they carried are much more, although the physical aspect absorbs most of a soldier's weight. There are so many emotional burdens and tolls to take into account when thinking about military units fighting in war and how they must deal with them while in the midst of gunfire and hell..