The Things They Carried characters

Appears from the start

A young American infantryman in Vietnam and the book's first-person narrator, sharing a name and much of a biography with the author. He observes the objects, memories, fears, and stories carried by the men of Alpha Company.

Appears from the start

The young lieutenant commanding Alpha Company. He carries letters and photographs from Martha, a college student at home, and retreats into fantasies of her love while feeling responsible for the soldiers under him.

Appears from the start

A college student whose letters and photographs Lieutenant Cross carries through Vietnam. Cross imagines a romance between them, although her affectionate messages make no such commitment.

Appears from the start

A thoughtful, deeply religious soldier of Native American heritage. He carries a New Testament and his grandfather's hunting hatchet, listens closely to O'Brien, and often responds to the war with moral seriousness.

Appears from the start

A frightened young soldier who relies on tranquilizers and is killed while returning from relieving himself. His death intensifies Lieutenant Cross's guilt about allowing private fantasies to distract him from command.

Appears from the start

A large machine gunner who carries extra food and values gentleness despite his physical strength. His personal objects include his girlfriend's stockings, which he treats as protection.

Appears from the start

The company's radio operator and a knowledgeable teller of war stories. He carries military equipment, condoms, and a strong instinct for detecting the strange mixture of fact and invention in soldiers' accounts.

Also known as Rat

Appears from the start

The company medic, skilled at treating wounds and prone to intense emotion and extravagant storytelling. He carries medical supplies and comic books while trying to keep the other soldiers alive.

Appears from the start

A quiet soldier from Iowa who imagines conversations and honors he cannot find in civilian life. He carries a diary in Vietnam and has difficulty giving words to what the war means to him.

Appears from the start

A soldier whose stolen jackknife begins a vicious quarrel with Lee Strunk. His fear of retaliation becomes so overwhelming that he takes drastic action to restore trust between them.

Appears from the start

A soldier known for petty theft and practical cunning. Conflict with Dave Jensen develops into an unusual friendship and a pact about what either should do if the other is gravely wounded.

First appears in chapter 3

A young soldier remembered for reckless humor and acts of bravado. His abrupt death becomes central to the book's examination of how a war story changes as it is told and retold.

First appears in chapter 9

A seventeen-year-old who comes to Vietnam to join her boyfriend, medic Mark Fossie, at an isolated aid station. Initially inexperienced and curious, she becomes increasingly absorbed by the landscape and the war around her.

First appears in chapter 13

O'Brien's young daughter, who asks whether he has ever killed anyone. Her question prompts him to frame a memory of a Vietnamese man's death for a child far removed from the war.

First appears in chapter 20

A replacement medic who treats O'Brien after Rat Kiley leaves the company. His uncertainty during an attack leaves O'Brien feeling betrayed and determined to make him understand the terror he caused.

First appears in chapter 22

O'Brien's childhood friend and first love, remembered as a lively nine-year-old who wears a red cap to school while concealing a grave illness. His memories of her become bound to his earliest understanding of death and storytelling.