Fallen Angels

by

Walter Dean Myers

Fallen Angels: Chapter 15 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Perry tries to write a letter to Kenny about killing the Vietcong soldier, because he wants Kenny to know that he is a good soldier. He finds he can’t write it down. When Peewee comes in, Perry asks if he can explain why he killed the “Cong” soldier. Peewee casually answers that killing the enemy is a soldier’s job.
Perry wants to explain himself to someone who knows him, possibly to resolve the tension he felt in the previous chapter between the person he used to be and the unrecognizable person he’s becoming. But he discovers he can’t expose anyone else—much less his beloved little brother—to the horrors he experiences as part of his job.
Themes
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Reality and Fiction Theme Icon
The squad’s new base looks the same as their old one, but there’s no generator and almost no cover. A few guys from a watercraft unit are there, tasked with teaching ARVN soldiers how to maintain their equipment. Perry hopes that the American forces will finish training the ARVN troops soon, hand the war back over to them, and go home.
The situation continues to deteriorate for the squad, and it seems that the ARVN troops are nowhere near ready to take over the fighting for themselves, as fervently as Perry hopes—or wishes—they will. And Perry realizes that false hope brings no comfort.
Themes
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Faith and Hope Theme Icon
Night patrol at Perry’s first post is scary, as night patrol here is “something else.” Their first mission involves helping two squads of ARVN soldiers ambush a Vietcong road. Tall grass—a perfect hiding ground for enemy fighters—covers the landing zone. And Simpson thinks they’re being asked to cover too much ground with too few soldiers. But no one wants to upset the ARVN soldiers, whom they fear will “bug out” and abandon them if things go wrong. Perry finds himself in the middle of the squad’s formation. Lieutenant Gearhart places claymores, and they wait.
The closer the squad gets to enemy territory, the more danger they find themselves in. This isn’t just because of the Vietcong’s guerrilla tactics or the chronic shortage of soldiers; it’s also because their ARVN allies feel more like an under-trained and under-equipped liability than an asset. This increases the sense among the American soldiers of being abandoned by their superiors and left to carry out the war on their own without adequate support.
Themes
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Simpson tells the soldiers not to think or daydream, but to keep alert. Perry tries, but in the darkness, he can’t stop his imagination from playing tricks on him, or from reminding him of the moment he shot the man in the village. He feels something like a finger on his wrist and he panics, only to discover it’s nothing more than a fat leech. After what seems like an eternity, he hears voices passing in the night. He can’t understand why Gearheart doesn’t detonate the claymores, and no one opens fire. Then, the clouds part, and in the light of the full moon, he sees an “endless line” of Vietcong fighters walking down the path. The woods are crawling with them. Perry begins to pray, to beg God to let him live.
On previous patrols, Perry has comforted himself with soothing fantasies of home and beautiful women. But he’s learned the hard way that letting his attention wander makes him vulnerable. Still, he struggles to stay focused, especially given the miserable discomforts of the war zone. When the clouds part and he can finally see what Gearhart evidently saw long before, it’s terrifying: the Vietcong fighters completely outnumber the platoon. Their only hope of survival lies in going unnoticed. Perry turns to prayer—fantasies and other mental games hold no comfort when the stakes are this high.
Themes
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Reality and Fiction Theme Icon
Faith and Hope Theme Icon
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It takes at least 15 minutes for the Vietcong soldiers to pass by, and the squad remains motionless for another half hour after that before Gearhart and Simpson round them up and they head back to base, where Perry overhears Gearhart calling up the chain, reporting that they’d encountered at least a battalion’s worth of men.
About 1,000 soldiers typically make up a battalion. The mismatch between the size of the Vietcong force and the American-ARVN party suggests a serious miscalculation somewhere higher up the chain of command. And it highlights the degree to which decisions made by military command from the faraway safety of other bases so often fail to reflect the situation on the ground accurately.
Themes
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Eventually, Simpson gives in to Stewart’s pressure and extends his tour in Vietnam by 30 days. Most soldiers extend because it’s a quick way to get a promotion; others seem to like the thrill of mortal danger. Perry knew a kid like the thrill-seekers back home, but no one went to his funeral when his wild behavior finally caught up with him and a rival gang gunned him down.
Perry never fully figures out Simpson’s reason for extending, but since Simpson doesn’t seem to care about promotion, this choice suggests his genuine care and concern for the men under him. Without the comfort of their families and old lives, exposed to danger by military leadership that doesn’t seem to understand or care about the trials they face, the soldiers rely on each other to survive. Understanding death all too well, the soldiers cannot in good conscience leave one another behind in danger.
Themes
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Race, Identity, and Belonging Theme Icon
Perry can tell that the action is picking up all over; the sounds of artillery start early in the morning and continue late into the night. ARVN forces run most of the patrols, and at least half the time, they come scurrying back quickly after encountering Vietcong in the woods, sending the whole base on alert. Perry wins $30 in the football pool and sends the money to Mama. He develops a rash on his feet that doesn’t heal, despite the drier conditions at the new base.
The ongoing miseries and petty complaints of the war—the constant poor sanitation and low-level physical discomfort—take almost as great a toll on Perry as the ongoing trauma from being in danger. On constant alert, he cannot avoid facing the reality of war every waking moment.
Themes
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One day, Lobel drags Jamal into the hooch, demanding he tell the whole squad what he just overheard. Stewart and Simpson were fighting after Simpson discovered that Stewart has been volunteering Alpha Company “all over the place.” Jamal heard Stewart tell Simpson that he shouldn’t have extended if he didn’t want to fight. The news goes down hard; everyone in the squad will do his part, but none of them wants to die just so that Stewart can earn his promotion.
The soldiers’ trauma develops in part from the horrors of war and in part from the betrayal they feel from all sides. The war teaches them to dehumanize their enemies in order to survive, essentially leading the men to betray their own humanity, while the military betrays them by treating them with no regard for their lives and safety.
Themes
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Quotes
After nearly a week of inactivity, the squad prepares to join a company-sized sweep of a nearby hilly area. Lobel writes an apologetic letter to his father and stashes it with his other belongings in the hooch. Perry wonders if his own father would be proud of him. Vietcong forces have laced the landing zone with punji sticks—sharpened points hidden in the grass for soldiers to step on. They’re usually covered with excrement to guarantee festering, infected wounds for anyone unlucky enough to step on one. The soldiers find a mine attached to an overhanging tree branch. They proceed with caution, afraid to touch or disturb anything around them. The grass gets taller as they move uphill.  
Lobel’s letter betrays the fear that the soldiers fear, as well as their increasing uncertainty about whether they will survive the war or not. Yet, they still follow their orders and bravely face their fates. The company-sized sweep gives the book a chance to describe the guerrilla warfare tactics that made the Vietcong such a deadly and terrifying foe during the Vietnam War: they hide in the darkness, watching and waiting and taking full advantage of their superior command of the local topography.
Themes
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Perseverance and Heroism Theme Icon
Perry nearly panics when the dense underbrush pulls his M-15 from his hands. Then, as Simpson and some of the other company leaders investigate a spider hole—a defensive trench big enough for only one or two Northern Vietnamese soldiers—the enemy opens fire from the crest of the hill. Gearhart charges towards the fire, and Perry follows, shooting his weapon. One the crest of the hill they find a few dead and dying Vietcong but they can’t see where the attack was coming from or any retreating soldiers. Explosions rock the hilltop. Perry sees Johnson fall to his knees; he sees Brew’s leg ripped open at the thigh. As he tries to get to Brew, two bullets hit Perry. He loses consciousness as someone grabs his collar and drags him along in the company’s retreat.
The Vietcong press their advantage by leaning into their guerrilla tactics: they hide themselves in undergrowth so dense that the soldier can barely move through it. And they wait, with patience and discipline, until the American forces have come within killing distance to open fire. Then, like ghosts, they retreat into the night, leaving few clues about their whereabouts or indications of their next steps. Their terrifying, ghostlike ability to appear out of and disappear into thin air contributes to the difficulties the Americans face in meeting their military objectives in the country. And it serves to ratchet the soldiers’ terror to an even higher pitch.
Themes
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