The things they carried...
They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing - these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight. They carried shameful memories. They carried the common secret of cowardice barely restrained, the instinct to run or freeze or hide, and in many respects this was the heaviest burden of all, for it could never be put down, it required perfect balance and perfect posture. They carried their reputations. They carried the soldier's greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to. It was what had brought them to the war in the first place, nothing positive, no dreams of glory or honor, just to avoid the blush of dishonor. They died so as not to die of embarrassment. They crawled into tunnels and walked point and advanced under fire. They endured. They kept humming. They did not submit to the obvious alternative, which was simply to close the eyes and fall. Go limp and tumble to the ground and let the muscles unwind and not speak and not budge until your buddies picked you up and lifted you into the chopper that would roar and dip its nose and carry you off to the world.
Tim O' Brien
THE THINGS THEY CARRIED
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....When the full moon pales across the sky, and the madness in my veins becomes to cry, I will come for your poor, yellow soul, to bring you the terror of the ancient law; and the justice will only be а tearing rule: the only award of the hunt is your blood, you fool…
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