The Things That Carry Them

Joshua Segers

Mrs. Myers

ENC 1102-003

4 November 2015

1776 Words

The Things That Carry Them

First lieutenant Danny Wilson carried a tiny pink sock in a tiny ziplock bag he kept in the pocket under his vest, his left breast pocket, close to his heart. The tiny pink sock with soft lace trim belongs to his three month-old-daughter, who was there at Ft. Carson, CO when Danny boarded a plane bound for the Afghanistan. Danny would take the sock out just before it was time to rack out and sit on the edge of his ridged green cot and dream about what it would be like to tuck in his daughter Lena, a world away. He was envious of her mother and often felt cheated when he heard his wife complain about having to stay up late at night and hold the baby or how she could never get anything done because Lena was walking now and “into everything.” Danny would gladly put down his 8-pound M-4 Assault Rifle to carry around his 20-pound daughter all day. After all, 20-pounds isn’t much compared to the 31-pound IOTV bullet-proof vest he and his detachment have to carry every day.

The things that ODA 3235 (Special Forces-Operations Detachment Alpha) carried varied widely depending on their mission set. Among the trade specific gear all soldiers generally carry many things that are the same. Benchmade auto pocket knives, chewing gum, cigarettes or chewing tobacco, or both, water proof paper and write-in-the-rain pen, a lighter, skin so soft by Oil of Olay to keep bugs away, and the normal beef jerky and M&Ms to chew on when passing the time. These are the little things that kept their minds occupied from day-to-day. On the longer operations or “Ops” as the operators refer to them, the men would carry back packs and add extra pockets and pouches to the different areas of their gear that they normally kept empty to help stay “light on the ground.” These pockets were mostly full of bullets and water commonly referred to as “bread and butter” by the team leaders. At the end...