Vietnam War Uncertainty in Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers

Response 1-A2: The main character changed in a couple ways throughout the duration of the novel with his thoughts towards being in Vietnam, his relationships with the people around him and his experiences as a soldier. Richies attitude towards this started to stop and Richie started to deal with it. Also, Richies relationships with fellow soldiers grew and tore apart as the events of the story were laid out. For instance, Richie and Peewees relationship grew closer together as the story went on because they went through everything together even in the end when they are close to death. Furthermore, Richies experiences are some that will that will change a person and harden them if they were put into the same situations, forced to do the same things.

The author, Tim O'Brien, is writing about an experience of a tour in the Vietnam conflict. This short story deals with inner conflicts of some individual soldiers and how they chose to deal with the realities of the Vietnam conflict, each in their own individual way as men, as soldiers.

One character is obviously the comic relief, another the beloved hero. The rest, valiant men fighting for their country, their lives, their freedom. The scene ends and the curtain rises, all of the pseudo soldiers take a bow and go home to their normal lives, far from the hands of death that grasp at the men forgotten in Vietnam, the real soldiers. They, who saw the hardships of war as more than just a script, beyond the glamorized versions that are seen by the American eyes. They saw the death and the tragedy, slowly becoming worn down into less of a human and more of a desensitized killing machine because that 's what war does. It permanently scars the soldiers, tearing away the feeling of loss and inappropriately replacing it with comedy, showing that war is destructive, stealing away an ounce of humanity with each bullet. As seen in The Things They Carried, written by Tim O 'Brien, the Vietnam War destroyed the minds of soldiers, causing them to lose their human emotions in an unglamorous setting, devaluing death as they lose their ability to appropriately handle situations.

In her book The Vietnam Wars, 1945-1990, author Marilyn Young examines the series of political and military struggles between the United States and Vietnam, a nation that has been distinctively separated as the South and the North. Young chooses to express the daily, weekly, monthly progresses of the affairs collectively called the Vietnam Wars, focusing on the American interventions in the foreign soil. She seeks to provide an answer to a question that has haunted the world for years: What was the reason behind the United States interfering in the internal affairs of a foreign country in which it had no claims at all? Young discloses the overt as well as covert actions undertaken by the U.S. government officials regarding the foreign affairs with Vietnam and the true nature of the multifaceted objectives of each and every person that’s involved had.

He feels Yanagi’s pain through the connection but he does not draw attention to it. To be in the heat of a powerplay game such as the one boiling over in Konoha right now is a moment of extreme delicacy and ruthlessness; attachments are withheld, persons numbed down. The rampant mentality is this: eliminate those who are likely to get in one’s way, even if they are friends, or valuable allies. Nobody who lived through the Warring States Era would be unfamiliar with this tenet: do what must be done. And if Tobirama was forced to choose among the Yamanaka twins, he would keep Yanagi alive, simply because she is now the more valuable of the two, even though Yanagi herself and most definitely, not Osamu, would admit it. For to dabble in politics is to know who has value, worth and utility, and who do not.

Furthermore, Fallen Angels, Richie is on a self discovery in finding out on what he wants to be in life. He states; “My plans, maybe just my dreams really, had been to go to college and to write. . . . All the other guys in the neighborhood thought I was going to college. I wasn’t, and the army was the place I was going to get away from all the questions” (Myers 22).Richie reflects on his aspirations because it gives him hope into the motivations of why he joined the army. When Richie enlisted in the army he wanted to get away from the real problems he faces in the real world, outside of war, the questions about his future plans and the frustration he has about the moral reason for war.He also believed for going to war was an attempt to escape the judgments of others around him like his family and friends. He felt that everyone expected so much of him and he did not want to disappoint anyone or himself. While in the Vietnam War, Richie begins to write letters to his younger brother Kenny. The letter describes how Richie feels from the beginning of entering

The root of the questions regarding Vietnam War is why did so many soldiers come home from this war so drastically transformed? Coleman addresses, in the early years of the war, volunteers filled most of the ranks. As the war continued and the public became more aware of the inhumanity the government implemented a draft (Coleman 66). Statics show the poor led this war and very few wealthy were recruited (Coleman 67). Coleman claims, the average age of the soldiers who died were seventeen and twenty-one (68). She writes this certainly contributed to the psychological wounds (68).

This chapter covers the transition of Mary Anne Bell, of how she changed from being a normal, sweet teenage girl to being one of the Green Berets, filled with enthusiasm for the war and intrigued with the culture of Vietnam. This message is about how the innocence of women is consumed by the war and how once they begin to learn more about it, they are hopelessly entranced by it, far from returning to their usual selves. Rat talks about how, “Anne made you think about those girls back home, how they'll never understand any of this, not in a billion years. Try and tell them about it, they’ll just stare at you with those big round candy eyes. They won't understand zip.”(O’Brien 108), and this shows that women won’t understand what Vietnam really is like, they have to experience it themselves. Women also won’t understand the grueling mental pain that soldiers experience in the war.

Vietnam. The story is told from the perspective of Richie Perry, a young soldier from Harlem.

The Viet Nam War has been the most reviled conflict in United States history for many reasons, but it has produced some great literature. For some reason the emotion and depredation of war kindle in some people the ability to express themselves in a way that they may not have been able to do otherwise. Movies of the time period are great, but they are not able to elicit, seeing the extremely limited time crunch, the same images and charge that a well-written book can. In writing of this war, Tim O'Brien put himself and his memories in the forefront of the experiences his characters go through, and his writing is better for it. He produced a great work of art not only because he experienced the war first hand, but because he is able to convey the lives around him in such vivid detail. He writes a group of fictional works that have a great deal of truth mixed in with them. This style of writing and certain aspects of the book are the topics of this reflective paper.

To begin, James N. Rowe states that in the beginning of the book the Vietcong ambushed the Americans resulting as war. During the ambush Rowe, Rocky, and Dan are confronted by the Vietcong and Rowe sustained 3 wounds, and rocky was shot in the knee; they had the fear of dying. As a prisoner Rowe thinks of his family and the reasons of why he joined the Army. James N. Rowe then

The main part of the novel is set in the jungle of Vietnam which is very rainy and wet. Even though this is the main setting Perry often talks about his home back in Harlem. Perry used to live in the slums, which were neglected and poverty-stricken as he says on page 14, “How was I going to get clothes for Kenny so he would stay in school? Mama had said that she’d see to it that Kenny stayed in school if I sent the money for clothes for him.” (pg.14) So clearly Richie’s mom was not bringing in much money so Richie had to provide for the family. In Vietnam it rained almost everyday and was mucky and grimy. The squad was placed in Chu Lai which was proficient and very intensive. At Chu Lai they went out on patrols, and on one of them Jenkins lost his life giving the rest of the people in the squad their first look at death. Then they had to move to Tam Ky, which was not as proficient and was less state-of-the-art. At Tam Ky, they are surrounded by the Vietnamese which makes patrolling at night so much more difficult and dangerous. At Tam Ky during a mission Richie becomes injured and his profile is found, then he is sent back to

The Vietnam War was a very unpopular war for the United States who supported The South Vietnam war against North Vietnam’s communist ideal; Richard is empowered to accept extreme missions moved by his latent hero’s will. Vietnam will change his life forever.

The 1986 movie Platoon directed by Oliver Stone depicts the Vietnam War through the eyes of Chris Taylor, a young and inexperienced infantry soldier. What differentiates the movie Platoon from other Vietnam War movies, is that in Platoon soldiers are dealing with both external and internal conflict. Externally, the men are fighting against the Vietcong, and internally the Platoon is divided between morally following Staff Sergeant Barnes or Sergeant Elias. Amidst all of this conflict lies Taylor, who if faced with a number of ethical dilemmas in which he is required to make tough decisions. Some of these decisions I agree with, but a majority of Taylor’s decisions, I would have handled them much differently is I was

He was a quiet man, rarely showed any emotion. It was this kind of behavior that scared Vincent to see what kind of man his father was in war. School was full of chatter of the war, some were scared they would have to join, while others were excited to capture some of the glory that veterans of WWII had. Vincent on the other hand did not know how he felt. If he joins the military and goes to war it would make his father proud of him, even show interest. He was walking to class, when he saw the Marine recruiters. He approached them to ask them more information. As they talked they mentioned all the benefits and training, but Vincent didn't care for any of it he just wanted to make his father proud. The evening was quiet around the dinner table, the only sound coming from the television in the living room. Vincent thought of no better time to tell his parents about his plans than now. "I have thought about joining the Marines and help in the war." He said. His parents looked at him surprised, especially his father. "Are you sure about?" Michael asked, "It is not what you think it is." Aurey says. " War is not to be taken likely and it's not for everyone." Michael says. His parents began to explain what war is like, but Vietnam will be a lot different. Vincent listened carefully to what they had to say, but no matter what they said he felt he had to commit or else his father would just think of him as a person of words, not action.