Walter Dean Myers wrote the book Fallen Angels. It is about America and the Vietnam War. Well as said by the main character in the book, Richie Perry. He goes through a lot of changes and sees some of his good friends die in battle fighting for a cause that no one could agree upon. The book has 4 other main characters, Lobel, Johnson, Brunner, and Peewee. The book starts off talking about the experiences of Perry while he is serving in Vietnam. His best friend, Peewee becomes instant friends with each other when they meet in the barracks. Peewee helps Perry by standing up for him during several disputes. Peewee and Perry wake up the next morning and find out that they are to go on patrol in order to search out and destroy any Vîet Công soldiers that they encounter. The patrol lasts for a few hours and Peewee and Perry are just about to camp, when a mutual friend of Peewee and Perry drops out of formation for a second and steps on a land mine, killing him instantly. Perry is so upset by this and needs Peewee to help him talk out his feelings of grief for the loss of the friend. Peewee and Perry have a few days to rest, because they have a weekend pass and it grants them 48 hours of freedom. They go to Saigon and have a few drinks and generally have fun, before they have to report back to their unit, which is stationed in the northern highlands of South Vietnam. When they return, they are happy that they made good use of their weekend passes in Saigon. The next day, Peewee and Perry are sent on another patrol, but this time they are sent in by helicopter. They are sent to an area known to have active Vîet Công troops in the vicinity. It does not take long for the patrol to run into a huge unit of Vîet Công in a rice paddy. They end up getting into a firefight for their very lives. Perry and Peewee shoot a few Vîet Công soldiers, before the firefight ends in a draw, with neither side gaining a clear victory. The toll for the unit is 2 dead out of a 10 man unit, including one of Perry's friends. When the troops are taken back to camp, Peewee and Perry talk about the experiences that they have gained from the firefight that they had with the Vîet Công soldiers and what was going through their minds at the time of the firefight. A few days later, Peewee, Perry, and a few other soldiers are sent out in a patrol to sweep out Vîet Công positions on a hill that overlooks the American camp. The patrol that is sent out is so badly organized that when it meets a Vîet Công patrol, the entire unit falls apart and Peewee and Perry find themselves on the hill, with none of their comrades in sight. Peewee and Perry hear something and hide in a small cave, hoping to evade capture. A Vîet Công soldier stands above looking around for the American servicemen. Peewee and Perry grab the enemy soldier, and kill him, to make sure that he does not give away their position. Peewee and Perry then try to get back to camp, but Peewee is wounded as a Vîet Công soldier finds them. A few hours later, Peewee and Perry make it back to camp and Peewee is treated for his wounds at the medic station. The story then summarizes the last few months of Peewee and Perry's service in Vietnam before they are sent home on a plane to the United States.
In the past four months, I've changed jobs, been forced to move out of my apartment back in with my parents temporarily, and begun the arduous task of DIYing a long neglected house into a livable space without, y'know, electrical wires dangling into the sink and cracked wood-paneled walls. I am finding it hard to have the attention span for any reading above an eighth grade level, and even find myself momentarily overwhelmed by Tess Gerritsen. (Let's meditate on that for a moment. Body Double? CURRENTLY TOO COMPLICATED.)So I decided that this would be a good time to return to an old childhood favorite. Fallen Angels was read, by me, several times in approximately sixth grade to junior high school, and I still can't believe that pre-teen Rachel chose to wrench herself from an endless diet of RL Stine and Christopher Pike for a serious book about a serious moment of historical relevance like the Vietnam War. But this one had a huge effect at the time. I remember reading about those young men in the trenches, killing, hearing shots and not knowing where the shots were coming from, and feeling suffocated by how helpless they must have felt. At the time, I remember thinking that there is a kind of fear (guerilla warfare in a needless war) that is incomprehensible to my generation. This is obviously not true any longer, because of Iraq, but at the time I wanted to know even more about what it was to have that experience that was so foreign to me. I read several non-fiction books about Vietnam after Fallen Angels, glossing over descriptions of artillery and military maneuvering to the parts about what it was like to actually be in the shit seeing your friends die as teenagers and fearing the same for yourself. I was stunned into something like reverence for war veterans, which is still a complicated emotion for me as I fundamentally hate war and what happens during war.Reading this book again as an adult, I am happy to say that it is still easily one of the best YA books I have ever read -- one of the most realistic books of war, YA or adult, easily. WDM's writing is unsentimental, letting the subject matter and Perry's fear of dying carry the appropriate gravitas. As an adult I appreciate the race relations element of the story more, the feeling of the black soldiers that they were being used as fodder on point or holding up the rear. The feeling that their lives mattered less to their commanders, even though they were fighting the same war next to the white boys in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement. WDM's story captures a whole generation. The other cool thing about Fallen Angels is that as soon as I started reading, Peewee, Johnson, Lobel and Perry came back to me immediately, like old friends. For as poor as my reading recall is, that's really something. I would never call it "comfort reading" given the subject matter -- it is more like discomfort reading, as it should be -- but oh, I do love this book and was happy to revisit it.
What do You think about Fallen Angels (1989)?
An awesome book about the Vietnamese war. The book includes excellent details about the scenario and the scenery. It feels like you are with the main character, Perry. If you are a fan of war stories, or combat you should read "Fallen Angels". One of the greatest stories about war i have ever read, it will keep you occupied for days on end without boredom. In this book you follow a man named Perry, who has joined the American military during the Vietnamese war. You will view his conflicts, his losses, and you may learn a little about his life at home. You will learn about comrades, and what they go through alongside Perry. You can almost feel the pain that Perry has to go through. It is a very legitimate tale about the war though. Near the beginning of the story there will not be much conflict, but towards the end conflict will seem to occur daily, and that is when Perry will start go witness his comrades die. Perry learns about his comrades through occasional stories tat manage to be brought up, and Perry seems to be the only one in his group to be able to write so he helps his friends write letters to their families. I found it a bit hard at first to grab ahold of the idea that this story was not taking place during modern times, but you should soon get used to it. I recommend this book to those who like to read stories about conflict, wars, and loss. An excellent book overall, 4/5 stars would be my rating on this book.
—James Lee
Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers is remarkable book with tons of humor and touching moments. The author does a perfect job in making the dynamic characters with great deal of detail. The characters act natural and think like like you think they should. This book shows true realism of of what soldiers think and do during wars. The authors make you each character distinct characteristic making each unit and memorable.The story is as deep as the characters with each event leading to another. Each event having a huge impact on the overall outcome of the book and especially on the main characters. It keeps time moving and keep the story fresh as an event ends its like a new story begins.The book shows so many feeling from the humor to the sad moment to the angry moments. The feeling act so strongly that it makes you want to rip the page and re-write it to change the course of events. Some moment I even gave me the feeling of fear.The main character is very deep with a very normal point of view. As the story progresses the character progresses as well and becomes completely different then he was at the beginning. He goes through so much that you really get attached and want to read more to find out more about what kind of person he is. As with all the other characters he has his own unique one as well which also bring different outcome from talking to other character in the book.While the book is realistic some part really remain somewhat unnatural as the main character by far is the luckiest person I have ever seen in my life. The book also does include some racial comment as well as stereotype but not in large scale but just to keep the humor up. Also has quite lot of swearing, praying and some very gruesome events to show how war really play out.
—Alain
Myers, Walter Dean. Fallen Angels. New York: Scholastic, 1988.Characters: Richie Perry is seventeen years old narrator and protagonist. Kenny Perry is Richie’s little brother and whom he shares a close relationship with. Richie’s mother was in a phase of depression and alcoholism. Harold Gates, also known as Peewee, was Richie’s friend during the war.Setting: 1967 Harlem and VietnamTheme: family relationships; prejudice; social responsibility; loss of innocence; reality of war; understanding life and death; heroismGenre: realistic; struggle; independenceGolden quote (optional): Chapter 11 “It seemed to be what the war was about. Hours of boredom, seconds of terror” Summary: Richie was from Harlem and fresh out of high school. Richie was constantly questioned by the people around him. They question his life and purpose of going to college, who he was going to be, and what he was going to do to make a difference in hopes of a better life for his brother and mother. Overwhelmed by questions that he does not know how to answer himself, Richie enlisted into the war that was going to change how people look at him, feel about him, how he looks at himself, and what’s going to become of this young man once it’s all over. Training for the war was not easy and for Richie and most of his friends, it was not going to be an easy task. As they are dropped into the jungle of unknown and questions, their fears gave them answers to keep living. The war helped Richie mend the distant relationship he has with his mother and it helped him understand the meaning to be something more.Intended Audience: High school studentsCurriculum ties: U.S. Wars; political issuesAwards (optional): 1988 Coretta Scott King AwardPersonal response: “With characteristic insight into the lives of young African-American men, Myers paints an unforgettable picture of tragedy and intense friendships during the Vietnam War.” I was very touched by the narrator. From the first few pages of knowing Richie to the very last few pages of hearing his voice shows that he has grown to become more than just a hero or a man; he was the mirror of those that fallen. Towards the end when Richie and his friend, Peewee, traveled home it was the most fearful moments because they are now expected to adapt back to the normal life in which they never knew how to live even before they enlisted to the Vietnam War. The letters, the dog tags, and everything about the war symbolize pain, reality, and love; it’s something that Richie had a difficult time grasping and he was conflicted of what might become of him in the end; the good guy or the bad guy?
—Van Phan
