Walter Dean Myers' Fallen Angels takes a dive into the harsh reality of modern war. The realistic depictions of various events in the war and the thoughts of the narrator (Perry) and other characters show an immense change in their approach to the war. Many Americans didn't know what was really going on and history books will only teach that the US was aiming to only stop the spread of communism; but when Richie Perry enlists in the army without much thought other than to receive a steady paycheck he is soon introduced to the harsh senselessness in much of the Vietnam War's violence and destruction. This exposure generates a radical change in the characters.
             The main character for the novel is Richie Perry; a young man from Harlem not giving much thought to his enlistment in the army. All along the battle fields the soldiers can feel a sense of death, from those dead around them and from witnessing one another being hit in the midst of battle. Experiencing this really changes people. One example of the effects of death seen early in the novel is when coming back from patrol Perry witnesses the new guy to the squad, Jenkins, being blown away by a land mine just outside of base. This haunts Perry for a while but yet seems to be forgotten by the others. Perry has not been conditioned to the brutality of the war yet and so this event does not leave him easily.
             The most heart-felt image expressed by the novel I feel was revealed a little later. A child rigged to bombs blows up in a soldiers arms, devastating the minds of those who saw it, although they tried to hide their discomfort. Events like this also shape the behavior of the soldiers on the battle field. Overtime soldiers lose their sensitivity to the death around them until they're concerned with only staying alive with no care for the lives of others. The war becomes a survival struggle in which their main objectiv
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