What does Chris drop at the end of "Platoon"?

In the final scenes of Platoon, Chris drops a hand grenade after surviving the battle and being found by fellow soldiers.

The moment comes shortly after Chris kills Sergeant Barnes, the brutal officer responsible for Elias’s death. Exhausted, wounded, and psychologically shattered, Chris appears ready to use the grenade on himself before the approaching soldiers interrupt him. He lets it fall and is evacuated by helicopter.

Platoon was released in 1986, written and directed by Oliver Stone, and stars Charlie Sheen as Chris Taylor. The film presents Taylor’s journey from an idealistic volunteer to a traumatized veteran caught between the opposing influences of Barnes and Sergeant Elias.

The grenade detail is easy to confuse with earlier combat scenes, where Chris throws grenades as weapons against enemy positions. At the ending, however, he does not throw it at the enemy: he drops it while apparently contemplating suicide. The small action reinforces the film’s final reflection on survival, guilt, and the psychological cost of the Vietnam War.