Christina Houck - Fallen Angels

I'm almost finished with this book.  There is so much detailed content for me that it is taking a bit longer than I anticipated to finish this novel.  From what I've read so far, I am taken aback by the events of the war in Vietnam.  First, I never would have imagined that the soldiers could have been taken into the war with so much inexperience.  Yes, Perry went through training, but his unwillingness and unpreparedness to participate in the war seems shocking to me.  Prior to reading this novel, I believed that people went to fight in the war because they wanted to stand for America.  It seems like Perry joined the army because he ran out of "better" options.  It makes me wonder, to what point of ignorance does someone join the army because they have nothing better to do.  I want to believe this plays into Perry's inability to make sharp and intellectual decisions in the midst of fighting.  Instead, he reacts on instinctual panic and fear.  

I don't really care for Perry's character much either.  He doesn't seem to have much of personality to him; instead, he just recalls the scenes, conversations, and fighting that he witnesses.  Because of this, I don't feel very attached to Perry.  I'm almost more attached to PeeWee's slightly crazed personality and pop-off-the-wall temper.  He doesn't seem to think before he acts, but at least he has a sense of humor.  

Something that really got to me was the use of the Vietnamese children as weapons in the war.  As I've mentioned before, it is my dream to have children and become a mother.  It disturbs be that someone could throw away a child's life like the women did in this book.  I mean, attaching a mine to a child and handing it into the arms of a soldier?  It's barbaric and sickening.  That scene made me sick and angry.  It made it worse when the American soldiers gunned down the second child, without giving him a chance to live.  I understand that it was no longer an option to leave the child be, but it makes my heart hurt.  These children didn't ask to be a part of the war; why make them suffer?

Overall, the events that occurred in this novel was a true eye-opener to the horrors of war.  I had family who lived during these times and must have witnessed these things.  My grandfather was a veteran, and he really refused to talk about his time in the army.  From what I've understood, when he came home, he was completely different.  That is to be expected.  After reading about the atrocities that occurred in the Vietnamese war, I know that, had I witnessed these things, I would be different, too.  It has given me a new perspective on the terrors of modern warfare.