Frank Herbert once said, “Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.” In war, many people are frightened and traumatized by the experiences they had to face. In the book Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers, Richie Perry travels to Vietnam to fight in the US Army. He has a hard time getting through war because that is not what he wanted to do in life. This book shows how Perry had to face many challenging situations and how it feels like to go to war. Throughout the war experience, Perry changes the way he views life, his feelings throughout the war, and his beliefs about war. First, Perry is forced to go into Combat because he doesn’t have enough money to go to school. At first, Perry is not ready to face the uncertainty of his future. But towards the end, he understands and values the way of life. He realizes that his relationships are more important than …show more content…
Having them not care made your whole life wrong" (Myers, 200). Although he felt some strong relationships with the squad, he also noticed that he wanted a romantic relationship and that was something that was missing in his life. Perry starts to feel this emotional void after spending months surrounded by soldiers who do have good relationships with their families. One of the most important lessons Perry learns from his time at war is that his relationships are the most important thing in life. Next, Perry has mixed feelings throughout his whole war experience. When he first went to war he did not know what to expect so he was terrified he was going to die. But then nothing was happening they weren't getting bombed and every day was just moving by day by day. Perry started to feel more comfortable like he was just doing a daily job until the war starts actually taking off and the bad parts are coming up, he then realizes what horrifying situation he is in when he