The Impact of War on Soldiers in Fallen Angels

Fallen Angels takes place in 1968, against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. I strongly believe that our identities are shaped by difficult experiences that occur throughout our lives. In the novel, Fallen Angels there are many events that ultimately shape these young soldiers’ lives. Walter Dean Myers does an excellent job at displaying the severity of the situations that these soldiers were forced to face throughout the Vietnam War. I believe that difficult situations improve us as human beings and open our eyes to the importance of becoming better people. This novel reflects on the tough circumstances many soldiers experience during war, and we are able to reflect on how these events may have changed these men forever.

Richie Perry was only seventeen years old when he enlisted. Perry ultimately had a somewhat tough life, living with his single mother and his brother. Perry knew that his mother would not be able to afford college, therefore he decided to turn to the army. I personally believe that most of us are very fortunate today, due to the fact that even if we are unable to afford college there are many options for loans and other means of payment. Perry was not given the opportunities that we have today. He was faced with a difficult situation and believed that serving his country was one of his few options. On his journey to Vietnam, Perry meets Peewee, a fellow african-american soldier. Throughout their experiences together they ultimately become very close friends. I believe that experiencing these difficult situations together brought them together and helped them create a bond. I strongly believe that these difficult circumstances brought Perry and Peewee together as best friends, and bettered them as people. During a patrol Perry is wounded badly along with Brewster who eventually dies on the evac helicopter. I cannot imagine how hard it was for Perry to watch Brewster die right beside him, let alone be forced back into combat after this experience. I believe that this experience likely took a toll on Peewee as well, due to the fact that he could’ve lost his best friend. Perry and Peewee had to ultimately overcome these difficult situations, and persevere for their country. I strongly believe that Perry and Peewee’s experiences undoubtedly shaped their lives permenantly.

Perry and Peewee were ultimately forced to see many of their squadmates be injured or even killed. I believe that situations like this, definitely took a toll on their lives and shaped their identities. Perry became very close with his superior Lieutenant Carroll, who Perry saw as a mentor and a trustworthy leader. During an ambush Carroll sustains an injury that results in his death. Perry was heartbroken. I believe that difficult situations like these are ultimately what shaped Perry’s indetity the most, and caused him to value his relationships more after having to overcome the loss of a close friend. Perry and Peewee find themselves losing their squadmates during a mission and are forced to spend the night in a VC spider hole, and during their escape Peewee is injured quite badly. Perry was forced to watch his best friend nearly lose his life, and I strongly believe that this experience took a toll on his life, which ultimately led to this experience shaping his identity in some way. They were also forced to experience Turner’s death, who was one of their long time squadmates. Having to watch people close to them suffer ultimately may have been the toughest part of their journey as soldiers, and I believe that these difficult situations shaped their identities as human beings.

After the death of Lieutenant Carroll, and Sergeant Simpson’s choice to return home. Perry was greeted with a new squad leader upon making a return from his injury. Sergeant Dongan was now in charge, and was racist towards the african-american soldiers. After everything Perry and Peewee were forced to endure, they were now under the command of a racist squad leader. Dongan frequently put black soldiers in the most vulnerable positions during ambushes and other missions. I believe that this must have been very hard for Perry and Peewee, due to the fact they were discriminated by one of their own in the midst of a voilent war filled with bloodshed. These acts of racism ultimately took a serious toll on Perry and Peewee’s emotional state during the war. I believe that this ties in perfectly with the idea that difficult situations shape our identities. I strongly believe that this difficult experience most definitely shaped Perry and Peewee’s indentities, and likely led to them considering racial equality to be an important attitude to always posess.

Ultimately, all of these tough experiences led to Perry and Peewee becoming changed men after returning home from combat. They went through despair and all kinds of sadness throughout their time deployed in the Vietnam War, and yet they were forced to persevere and overcome the deaths of squadmates as well as enemies. Perry and Peewee were both forced to take enemy lives whether they wanted or not, and worst of all watch their friends suffer. I believe that all of these extremely difficult situations shaped Perry and Peewee’s identities in both positive and negative ways. They were forced to experience the worst forms of violence, as well as loose many of their own along the way.