THEY CARRIED......

THEY CARRIED P38 can openers and heat tabs,
watches and dog tags,
insect repellent, gum, cigarettes, Zippo lighters,
salt tablets, compress bandages,
ponchos, KoolAid, two or three canteens of water,
iodine tablets, sterno, LRRP rations, and C rations
stuffed in socks. The carried standard fatigues,
jungle boots, bush hats, flak jackets and steel pots.
They carried the M16 assault rifle. They carried trip
flares and Claymore mines, M60 machine guns,
the M79 grenade launcher, M14's, CAR15's,
Swedish K's, 66mm LAWs, shotguns, .
45 caliber pistols, silencers, the sound of bullets,
rockets, and choppers, and sometimes the
sound of silence. They carried C4 plastic
explosives, an assortment of hand grenades,
PRC25 radios, knives and machetes. Not all at once.

Some carried napalm, CBU's and large bombs;
some risked their lives to rescue others.
some escaped the fear, but dealt with the death
and damage.
Some made very hard decisions, and some just
tried to survive.
They carried malaria, dysentery, ringworms and leeches.

They carried the land itself as it hardened on their boots. They carried stationery, pencils, and pictures of their loved ones real and imagined.
They carried love for people in the real world and love for one another.
And sometimes they disguised that love: "Don't mean nothin'!"

They carried memories for the most part, they carried themselves with poise
and a kind of dignity. Now and then, there were times when panic set in,
and people squealed or wanted to, but couldn't; when they twitched and
made moaning sounds and covered their heads and said "Dear God"; and hugged
the earth and fired their weapons blindly and cringed and begged for the
noise to stop and went wild and made stupid promises to themselves and God
and their parents, hoping not to die.

They carried the traditions of the United States military, and memories and
images of those who served before them. They carried grief, terror,
longing and their reputations. They carried the soldier's greatest fear:
the embarrassment of dishonor. They crawled into tunnels, walked point, and
advanced under fire, so as not to die of embarrassment. They were afraid of
dying, but too afraid to show it.

They carried the emotional baggage of men who might die at any moment.

They carried the weight of the world.

THEY CARRIED EACH OTHER

Author Unknown,
Remember them this Memorial Day May 28th