What were the things that the soldiers carried—not weapons and such?

The author (O'Brien) talks about things the soldiers
carried that were not war-related in terms of battle, but things that held a personal
significance or tied them in some way to their habits, etc., of life at
home.

For example, one man carried letters from a girl
friend (they were not romantic letters, but Lt. Cross had hopes that one day they would
be). One man carried a toothbrush and dental floss, and another soldier carried
tranquilizers. Others carried a diary, comic books and a New Testament. Some men carried
insecticide, suntan lotion, Vietnamese-English dictionaries, chess sets, and
basketballs. Many of the men carried photographs of people at
home.

Above all, the men carried heartache and worry, love
for their "people" and hate for the war and all that came with
it.

For the
most part they carried themselves with poise, a kind of dignity. Now and then, however,
there were times of panic, when they squealed or wanted to squeal but
couldn't...Afterward, when the firing ended, they would blink and peek up. They would
touch their bodies, feeling shame, then quickly hiding it. They would force themselves
to stand.

In "The Things They
Carried," O'Brien lists the many military-issued items that all the soldiers carried,
and he lists them: the items sometimes vary depending upon the rank or function of the
soldier carrying them. In the midst of these lists, however, O'Brien also lists the
items that keep the men tied to home, grounded. It is a reminder to the reader, that
although these men are soldiers, they are men first, and members of the military service
second.

I believe O'Brien does this in order to remind the
reader of the reality of war. It is not something that takes place between two faceless
opposing factions in a remote part of the world. The battles involve men (and now women)
who are flesh and blood, with hopes and dreams of lives and futures much the same as our
own. In this, I think he tries to remind us of the enormous sacrifice these individuals
make for their country, and to humanize the individuals so they don't end up being
simply numbers or statistics.