This song is about a yard sale, but to me, waits is really playing on the idea that a soldier is selling all of his things even though they mean the world to him, they are just things. With the lines before he covers the soldier items, what he is talking about is just really junk, an old radio, a crappy car, and without skipping a beat, he continues to apply this unvalued attitude towards his items. The thing that hits the hardest is he is giving away his medals, his medals that signify his bravery and his accomplishments. The reason he is able to do this is that a soldier is not the sum of his items, but the memories that he has the experiences. He is not a soldier because he has these things, he is a soldier because he is.
So, basically, to me it is a song where although a soldier gives away all of his items, he is still a soldier through his memories and experiences and not the items that he has from it.
This song is about a yard sale, but to me, waits is really playing on the idea that a soldier is selling all of his things even though they mean the world to him, they are just things. With the lines before he covers the soldier items, what he is talking about is just really junk, an old radio, a crappy car, and without skipping a beat, he continues to apply this unvalued attitude towards his items. The thing that hits the hardest is he is giving away his medals, his medals that signify his bravery and his accomplishments. The reason he is able to do this is that a soldier is not the sum of his items, but the memories that he has the experiences. He is not a soldier because he has these things, he is a soldier because he is.
So, basically, to me it is a song where although a soldier gives away all of his items, he is still a soldier through his memories and experiences and not the items that he has from it.