In the short story "The Things They Carried," all the soldiers physically carry heavy loads as well as emotional. Although they all have something interesting, one character stood out to me the most. Jimmy Cross, who is the Lieutenant of the Alpha Company, carries letters to remind him of the love he has for a girl back home named Martha. Jimmy would hold the letters and "imagine romantic camping trips into the white mountains in New Hampshire," (615) and think about what he could be doing instead of being stuck in the jungles of Vietnam. Even though Martha does not love him back he still liked to pretend that she did. In doing so, Cross lost two of his soldiers while being stuck in his fictional love story. After the death of his two soldiers,
