I probably most enjoyed "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong." An American soldier stationed in an isolated camp arranges to have his hometown girlfriend flown in, but she changes there, and the cheery, small-town girl assimilates a group of guerrillas. This is a good story, but the idea is clearly taken from "Apocalypse Now," which borrows from Heart of Darkness.
The passages of the essay-like titular piece, "The Things They Carried," recounts in detail the variety of supplies and miscellany the soldiers take from camp to camp, supply drop to supply drop. The main character is a lieutenant, a platoon leader, who carries reminders of an unrequited love back home. A soldier in his platoon dies, and the lieutenant blames himself for being distracted by memories. The inventory and weighing of all the objects is effective by itself; the juxtaposing this with the carrying of memories and feelings is okay.
I expected a novel and felt like I was given ideas on scraps of paper.
Note: I had read some or all of The Things They Carried in college but remembered none of it.
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