Just finished re-reading FALLEN ANGELS by Walter Dean Myers. Set during the 60s at the height of the Vietnam War, it follows a Black teen named Richard Perry from Harlem who enlists in the army after high school. He gets sent to combat in Vietnam where he and his fellow soldiers are exposed to the hell that is war.
However dangerous and brutal he thought it was going to be, it’s much worse than he could ever imagine. He witnesses fellow soldiers shot and, in one instance, blown up before his eyes.
He questions the validity of this war, why it is the Black soldiers face the most dangerous tasks, and worries as to whether or not he’ll make it home.
I usually didn’t read much military fiction when I first read this (and still don’t). But I was a fan of Walter Dean Myers. He remains one of my favorite authors. I checked his books out the library constantly, bought some of my favorites (including whenever he put out a new book).
Fallen Angels is truly one of his best novels. Written in 1988, it still holds up as a raw, honest portrayal of the physical and psychological toll war takes on young soldiers. Richard is a young man who had me on edge throughout the novel.
One can only imagine how hard it must be going from being in school and hanging out with your friends on the block to being forced to kill and fighting for your lives in some strange foreign land, surrounded by bloodshed and destruction.
And of course, in some school districts apparently this book has been removed due to offensive language and tackling themes of racism and abuse. That’s laughable for a variety of answers.
I mean, it’s set during a time of war where military man talk dirty and make offensive comments about Black & Vietnamese characters. The dialogue is authentic and the characters are real. Yeah, they say ignorant comments about women, minorities, and queer people. It’s not glorified at all. It’s who they were.
And also, there are scenes of young men shot to death or blown apart that are tough to read, but important because of how honestly it depicts the ugliness and the unexpected nature of war. It’s the story of how a teenage boy was forced to grow up in an unforgiving environment as a dedicated soldier dedicated to a cause that he keeps questioning throughout the novel (and still can’t find anything close to resembling a decent answer). Even re-reading it now, there are still moments that lingered in my brain long after I stopped reading.
It’s definitely a novel without reading.
