I really enjoyed reading this story. The story was a very detailed look at how the men felt about the war in Vietnam. When first reading it I wasn't sure where the war took place. After reading about the dictionaries they carried that translated Vietnamese into English I then realize they were in Vietnam. The title of the story tends to make you think about physical things they carried. While reading you realize the emotional and mental things they also carried. All the men carried the things they needed for survival but each one carried something that was either a personal or sentimental value to them, (Korb). All the men carried burdens but the things Lt. Cross carried was a central theme in the story, maybe because he was the leader and had the responsibility of the whole squad. Lt. Cross carri

The men is this story carried a lot of burdens, physically, emotionally and mentally. The story was very detail with the men's feelings about death, wishing for their freedom from the war, being frightened and the things they carried for necessity. The burdens they carried were enough to make anyone wish for the simple life they had lived in their country. The physical things they can discard but the emotional and mental things these soldiers carried will always be

ed the things he needed for necessity but also carried Martha's letters, a girl he claims to love but the love not being returned. It takes a while for it to sink into Lt. Cross that Martha doesn't love him and probably never will. Martha wrote Lt. Cross on a friendship type basis but it took awhile for Lt. Cross to see that. Lt. Cross states in the story that Martha never said anything about the war in her letters, just to take care of himself (O'Brien 71). She had enough sense to not ask about the war when he had to deal with it everyday. To me she knew somewhat of what he was going through and she wanted her letters to be a breath of fresh air, which they were to Lt. Cross. There are several instances mentioned in the story that Lt. Cross' thoughts of Martha were of purity in a sense. "She was a virgin, he was almost sure,"(O'Brien 61).

The author stating several times in the story about Ted being scared was to emphasize the fact all the men were scared. Ted showed he was scared whereas the others did not. "Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried tranquilizers until he was shot in the head outside the village of Than

Some common words found in the essay are:
Ted Lavender, Lt Cross, Thinking Martha, Cross' Martha, Vietnamese English, Cross Martha, Mountains HampshireO'Brien, Carried Burdens, lt cross, carried burdens, cross martha, lt cross carried, T-shirt O'Brien, cross carried, ted lavender scared, country family, scared carried, carried necessity, lavender scared carried, burdens war, burdens war staying, didn't agree, lt cross martha, fight country,
Approximate Word count = 1079
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)