The Things They Carried: An Analysis The Vietnam War was the most technologically advanced war of its time. Combat was more horrific and terrifying during the Vietnam War. There was no front line or clear way to identify the enemy because civilians would attack the soldiers as well as the North Vietnamese army. It was a guerrilla war, every man for himself. Thanks to medical advances, more and more soldiers were able to recover from wounds caused by shrapnel grenades, land mines, concussion grenades, and other weapons. A person could step on a landmine and only have a limb amputated instead of dying. Tim O'Brien survives two gunshot wounds and an infection, which nearly led to gangrene. In past wars, if gunshot wounds didn't kill a person, infection almost certainly did. The soldiers in The Things They Carried were tasked with fighting two Vietnam wars, an internal war and an external war. Externally, the men were fighting the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong. Internally, men were struggling with maturity and adulthood. They were desperately trying to stay young despite a war that forced them to grow up. Each soldier carried various "weapons" with which to fight wars. For example, Dave Jensen carried a rabbit's foot, while Jimmy Cross carried a pebble Martha found "where things came together but also came apart." (O'Brien, 9). Lee Strunk carried a slingshot. Henry Dobbins, however, carried two weapons in addition to the Army regulation ones. He carried with him the nursery rhyme: "A tisket, a tasket, a green and yellow basket, I wrote a letter to my love and on the way I dropped it..." which he sang as he sewed stripes onto his uniform. He also wore a pair of his girlfriend's pantyhose, which he wrapped around his neck for protection. "He liked to stick his nose in the nylon and breathe in the scent of his girlfriend's body; he liked the memories it inspired in him; sometimes he slept with his socks glued to his face, the way a newborn sleeps with a flannel blanket, safe and peaceful .." (O'Brien, 129). These weapons allowed these men to dodge Bouncing Betties and gunfire, allowing them to crawl through dark tunnels and watch friends die every day. They were able to fight off the North Vietnamese, the Viet Cong, leeches, mosquitoes, ringworm, dysentery, gangrene, and mine and gunshot wounds, and then wake up the next morning and fight the same ones enemies day after day..