What they carried intro

​What they
Carried excerpt

By joseph jones

1. First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, a junior at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey. They were not love letters, but Lieutenant Cross was hoping, so he kept them folded in plastic at the bottom of his rucksack. In the late afternoon, after a day's march, he would dig his foxhole, wash his hands under a canteen, unwrap the letters, hold them with the tips of his fingers, and spend the last hour of light pretending. He would imagine romantic camping trips into the White Mountains in New Hampshire. He would sometimes taste the envelope flaps, knowing her tongue had been there. More than anything, he wanted Martha to love him as he loved her, but the letters were mostly chatty, elusive on the matter of love. She was an English major at Mount Sebastian, and she wrote beautifully about her professors and roommates and midterm exams, about her respect for Chaucer and her great affection for Virginia Woolf. She often quoted lines of poetry; she never mentioned the war, except to say, Jimmy, take care of yourself. The letters weighed 10 ounces. They were signed Love, Martha, but Lieutenant Cross understood that Love was only a way of signing and did not mean what he sometimes pretended it meant. At dusk, he would carefully return the letters to his rucksack. Slowly, a bit distracted, he would get up and move among his men, checking the perimeter, then at full dark he would return to his hole.

Text for SECTION 1

Multiple Choice

Why is Jimmy Cross struggling inside himself when he reads Martha’s letters?

• He loves her, but he knows she doesn’t really love him.

• He is hungry and tired.

• He is angry at his soldiers.

Multiple Choice

How do Jimmy’s daydreams about Martha create a conflict for him?

• He wants to go back home right away.

• He wants to write longer letters to her, but hes a terrible writer.

• He wants to think about Martha, but he is supposed to focus on leading his men.

Multiple Select

What type of Conflict is this: He wants to think about Martha, but he is supposed to focus on leading his men. (Pick 2)

• Internal

• Man vs. Man

• External

• Man vs self

Multiple Choice

How does the word “Love” in Martha’s letters create an emotional conflict for Jimmy?

• He thinks she is sending mixed messages on purpose.

• He pretends it means real love even though he knows it doesn’t.

The things they carried were largely determined by necessity. Among the necessities or near-necessities were P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, sewing kits, Military Payment Certificates, C rations, and two or three canteens of water. Together, these items weighed between 15 and 20 pounds, depending upon a man's habits or rate of metabolism. Henry Dobbins, who was a big man, carried extra rations; he was especially fond of canned peaches in heavy syrup over pound cake. Dave Jensen, who practiced field hygiene, carried a toothbrush, dental floss, and several hotel-sized bars of soap he'd stolen on R&R in Sydney, Australia. By necessity, and because it was SOP, they all carried steel helmets that weighed 5 pounds including the liner and camouflage cover. They carried the standard fatigue jackets and trousers. Very few carried underwear. On their feet they carried jungle boots — 2.1 pounds — and Dave Jensen carried three pairs of socks and a can of Dr. Scholl's foot powder as a precaution against trench foot. Necessity dictated. Because the land was mined and booby-trapped, it was SOP for each man to carry a steel-centered, nylon-covered flak jacket, which weighed 6.7 pounds, but which on hot days seemed much heavier. Because the nights were cold, and because the monsoons were wet, each carried a green plastic poncho that could be used as a raincoat or groundsheet or makeshift tent. With its quilted liner, the poncho weighed almost 2 pounds, but it was worth every ounce. In April, for instance, when Ted Lavender was shot, they used his poncho to wrap him up, then to carry him across the paddy, then to lift him into the chopper that took him away.

Multiple Choice

How does carrying heavy items show the soldiers are in conflict with their environment?

• The weight makes marching difficult and tiring.

• The soldiers enjoy carrying the extra weight.

Multiple Select

What kind of conflict is this? They have to carry heavy items because they have to protect themselves from the environment as well as the enemy soldiers. (Pick 3)

• Internal Conflict

• External Conflict

• Man Vs Nature

• Man vs Self

• Man Vs Man

Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried tranquilizers until he was shot in the head outside the village of Than Khe in mid-April. Until he was shot, Ted Lavender carried 6 or 7 ounces of premium dope, which for him was a necessity. Norman Bowker carried a diary. Rat Kiley carried comic books. Kiowa, a devout Baptist, carried an illustrated New Testament that had been presented to him by his father, who taught Sunday school in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. As a hedge against bad times, however, Kiowa also carried his grandmother's distrust of the white man, his grandfather's old hunting hatchet. Because you could die so quickly, each man carried at least one large compress bandage, usually in the helmet band for easy access. In April, for instance, when Ted Lavender was shot, they used his poncho to wrap him up, then to carry him across the paddy, then to lift him into the chopper that took him away.

Multiple Choice

How does Ted Lavender carrying “premium dope” show a conflict with war?

• He is scared and trying to calm his fear because the war is dangerous.

• He wants to avoid talking to the lieutenant. The Lieutenant doesn't want to be associated with drubs

Multiple Select

What kind of conflict is this? He is scared and trying to calm his fear because the war is dangerous. (Pick 2)

• Internal Conflict

• External Conflict

• Man Vs Nature

• Man vs Self

Multiple Choice

How does Lavender being wrapped in his poncho show emotional conflict?

• They are confused about where to put the poncho.

• The soldiers are sad and must face the pain of losing a friend.

Multiple Select

What kind of conflict is this? "Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried tranquilizers until he was shot in the head outside the village of Than Khe in mid-April. Until he was shot, Ted Lavender carried 6 or 7 ounces of premium dope, which for him was a necessity." (Pick 2)

• Internal Conflict

• External Conflict

• Man Vs Nature

• Man vs Self

Multiple Select

What kind of conflict is this? "Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried tranquilizers until he was shot in the head outside the village of Than Khe in mid-April. Until he was shot, Ted Lavender carried 6 or 7 ounces of premium dope, which for him was a necessity." (Pick 2)

• Internal Conflict

• External Conflict

• Man Vs Man

• Man vs Self

They carried the sky. The whole atmosphere, they carried it, the humidity, the monsoons, the stink of fungus and decay, all of it, they carried gravity. They carried the land itself — the wide, flat, treeless paddies, the booby-trapped rice fields, the tunnels that sometimes collapsed and swallowed men whole. They carried ghosts. For the most part they carried themselves with poise, a kind of dignity. But there were times when the land seemed to breathe against them, when the earth itself rose up and tried to shake them off. In the highlands the mountains pressed in close, and the trails were slick with red clay that sucked at their boots. When it rained, which was often, the water came down in sheets, turning the earth to mud that could pull a man under. They carried infection and malaria and the constant itch of ringworm. They carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to.

Multiple Choice

How does the land itself act as a conflict for the soldiers?

• The earth rises up and tries to shake them off with mud, tunnels, and booby traps.

• The land gives them extra food and water. The food is posioned and causes disease

Multiple Choice

What do the soldiers carry that shows a psychological conflict with the war environment?

• They carry extra blankets and pillows showing their need for comfort.

• They carry the fear of blushing and dying from embarrassment.

Multiple Choice

How does the rain create a physical conflict with the soldiers’ movement?

• The rain cools them down and makes marching easier and less challenging.

• It turns the ground into mud that pulls at their boots and can swallow men.

Multiple Select

What kind of conflict is this? "In the highlands the mountains pressed in close, and the trails were slick with red clay that sucked at their boots. When it rained, which was often, the water came down in sheets, turning the earth to mud that could pull a man under." (Pick 2)

• Internal Conflict

• External Conflict

• Man Vs Man

• Man vs Self

• Man Vs Nature