The other things that the soldiers' carried were not only tangible but the intangible emotions that lingered with them along their journey. These intangible emotions haunted them as a huge burden everyone carried. For example, Jimmy Cross carried love as well as regret. The thoughts and dreams of Martha and the horrid flashbacks of Ted Lavender's body falling like concrete due to his carelessness.
Jimmy Cross, one of the most talked about characters in the novel, is the Lieutenant of the platoon. His primary thoughts are about his love Martha. His love drunk emotions had turned for the bad when one of the soldiers, Ted Lavender, was shot while on duty. After, his views about his love life changed and so did his priorities. I predict that his love drunkiness will later haunt him again later in the novel.
All of these things were connected again by emotion. The sadness, anger, and hate were all related to the Vietnam war. These all can be related also by the risks everyone took. Like Daniel taking his risk by leaking the pentagon papers and Lieutenant Jimmy Cross taking a risk by burning his belongings of Martha that he once cherished more than his life.
