Why Is It Important??

When reading this book, I was wondering why what the soldiers carried was so important. It is interesting and all but I wasn't sure why it was such a focus of this book. I figured it out when I read about the young man that Tim killed. When I read about how they found "a pouch of rice, a comb, fingernail clipper, a few soiled piasters, a snapshot of a young woman standing in front of a parked motorcycle" (page 123), I felt almost sad. When you see what they carried, you learn about who that person was and a little about their life. If a soldier died, what they carried could identify them and make them human, not just a soldier or the enemy. I think that Tim feels worse when he begins to learn about the man because he realizes that this guy is in the same boat as him. I think that by reading this part I see why what they carried was so important to them. Also, I think what they carried for personal reasons would take their mind off the war. I know if I was in war I would want to escape even just a few minutes from it and put myself in a different place, like a picture of my friends or family.