Image source: http://www.statesman.com/life/books/novelist-tim-obrien-wants-us-to-remember-my-716982.html
After reading the first chapter of the book "The things they Carried" by Tim O'Brien, I soon realized all the things a soldier carries while at war and away from it. Emotional baggage is the heaviest one that a soldier can carry. While at war they carry the responsibility of each other and protecting the soldiers in their platoon. It’s not only the equipment, their personal belongings but they also carry the responsibility of succeeding in the war and coming home safely from it, with the assurance that they have served their country and hopefully accomplished the purpose in which they were drafted for. While at war they carry the necessities of survival but they also carry the memories of the loved ones that they have left behind, and the attachment that they get from their fellow soldiers and realizing that for some their days are counted because at war not every soldier comes back and if they do return back home, they always bring back with them the memories, the sorrow and grief of losing a fellow soldier which they have become to love as their own family but also for the many innocent lives that they taken due to the war. A soldier never comes back the same way they departed they always come back with shattered spirits and with painful memories because of the lives they have taken while being at war. Their state of mind is never the same and many have a constant battle with their own minds. The dreadful memories that they carry back home are the ones that I think have a greater weight than anything else. The things that they carry for survival are ones that they can remove when they leave their duty however, the memories will always remain with them and they will carry those for the rest of their lives.
Image source: http://www.statesman.com/life/books/novelist-tim-obrien-wants-us-to-remember-my-716982.html
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