Stink Harris

Stink Harris has a very small role in this story, although he figures in other stories in The Things They Carried.

Dave Jensen

Dave Jensen is a minor character in this story, a fellow member of Tim's platoon.

Rat Kiley

Rat Kiley is another member of Tim's platoon. The story opens with Tim telling the story of how Rat wrote a letter to the sister of Curt Lemon, one of Rat's buddies who was killed. The sister never writes back and Rat calls her a "dumb cooze." A second story involving Rat concerns a "baby VC water buffalo." The event occurs soon after Curt's death. The platoon captures the buffalo and takes it with them. However, when it refuses to eat the food Rat offers it, Rat begins shooting the buffalo. The narrator attributes this action to Rat's grief and anger over the death of his friend...