The Things They Carried Allusions & Cultural References

Literary and Philosophical References

• Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (On the Rainy River.64)
• Tim O'Brien, If I Die in a Combat Zone (On the Rainy River.64)
• Tim O'Brien, Going after Cacciato (How to Tell a True War Story.105)

Historical References

• The USS Maddox and the Gulf of Tonkin (On the Rainy River.2)
• Ho Chi Minh (On the Rainy River.2)
• Geneva Accords (On the Rainy River.2)
• SEATO (On the Rainy River.2)
• Eugene "Gene" McCarthy (On the Rainy River.3)
• Bomb Hanoi (On the Rainy River.4)
• President Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) (On the Rainy River.4, On the Rain River.64)
• General William Westmoreland (On the Rainy River.4)
• Adolf Hitler (On the Rainy River.7)
• Bao Dai (On the Rainy River.10)
• Ngo Dinh Diem (On the Rainy River.10)
• Vietnamese nationalism (On the Rainy River.10)
• French colonialism (On the Rainy River.10)
• Burning draft cards (On the Rainy River.23)
• President Abraham Lincoln (On the Rainy River.64)
• Abbie Hoffman (On the Rainy River.64)
• Chu Lai (Notes.10)

Pop Culture References

• Bonnie and Clyde (The Things They Carried.5, Notes.5)
• "The Stars and Stripes" (The Things They Carried.39)
• Jane Fonda in Barbarella (On the Rainy River.64, The Ghost Soldiers.120)
• Gary Cooper (On the Rainy River.64, The Ghost Soldiers.127)
• "Lemon Tree" (How to Tell a True War Story.92)
• Harmon Killebrew (The Ghost Soldiers.8)
• Audie Murphy (The Ghost Soldiers.127)
• The Cisco Kid (The Ghost Soldiers.127)
• Mary Hopkin (The Ghost Soldiers.145)
• Alfred Hitchcock, The Birds (The Ghost Soldiers.217)
• The Man Who Never Was (The Lives of the Dead.55)