Fallen Angels Study Guide

Directions: Answer the following questions in complete sentences on a separate sheet of paper. You do not need to rewrite the question, but please number your answers.

Chapters 1-2 1. Who is the narrator of the story? Describe him. (p. 3-12) 2. Why do the soldiers coming out of Vietnam look older than the ones going in? (p. 9) 3. Why does Peewee think the woman cleaning the room is a Cong? (p. 11) 4. Why does Peewee get mad when the ranger calls him “boy”? (p. 11-12) 5. To whom does Perry write his first letter? (p. 10-12) His second letter? (p. 19) What does Perry write in the letters?

Chapters 3-4 6. What does “in the deep” mean? (p. 28) 7. What do you think happened to the soldiers who used to sleep in the bunks? (p. 33) 8. What does Johnson mean when he says, “If the man give me a job back home, I wouldn’t be doing this job over here”? (p. 34) 9. What happens to Jenkins? (p. 41) 10. What is an angel warrior, according to Lt. Carroll? (p. 44) 11. What is the difference between Lt. Carroll (p. 44) and Sgt. Simpson (p. 37)? 12. Why do the men respect Lt. Carroll more? (p. 45, 59) 13. Why is Perry having difficulty writing a letter to Mama? (p. 46) 14. What is the name of the public relations program? What does Peewee call it? (p. 50) 15. What are the names of the guys who are in Alpha Company with Perry?

Chapters 5-7 16. Why does Perry decide to stay with the unit? (p. 68) 17. What is the real question that Perry is pondering at the end of Ch. 5? (p. 69) 18. What does Lobel do to get through the stress of war? (p. 71) 19. What are the different reasons the men give for fighting in Vietnam? Whose reason do you think is the best? Explain. (p. 77) 20. Why doesn’t Perry’s weapon fire during his first firefight? (p. 80) 21. Why does the Army lie about the enemy body count? (p. 86) 22. Why does Perry see VC every time he closes his eyes? (p. 87) 23. What letter does Peewee ask Perry to write for him? What does it say? (p. 92) 24. Why does Perry feel guilty about praying to God? (p. 94)

Chapters 8-10 25. What happens when Perry goes on patrol with Charlie Company? (p. 102-103) 26. What does Perry send Kenny for his birthday? (p. 105-106) 27. What is the purpose of the pacification mission? (p. 109-111) 28. What does Brunner do that bothers Perry? (p. 112) 29. Why does the letter from his father upset Lobel? What does it say? (p. 116) 30. What happens to Lt. Carroll? (p. 125-128)

Chapters 11-15 31. Who is Perry’s new platoon leader? Describe him. (p 137) 32. Why does Perry’s mother send Peewee a letter? (p. 142) 33. What is Tet? Why is the Tet of interest to the soldiers? (p. 152) 34. Why does Simpson argue with Gearhart? Why does Simpson eventually back down, even though he does not agree with Gearhart? (p. 157) 35. What serious mistake does Perry make during the ambush patrol? (p. 159-161; 166) 36. Who dies during the ambush? (p 165-166) 37. Who accidentally sets off a flare that exposes the squad’s location to the VC? (p. 172) 38. Why does Walowick fire at a steel drum? (p. 177) 39. What happens in the village that upsets Monaco? (p. 178) 40. What simile is used to describe the chopper crews? (p. 183) 41. What happens to Peewee at the end of Ch. 14? (p. 188) 42. Why doesn’t Lt. Gearhart spring the ambush? (p. 196-197) 43. What is ironic about what the medic tells Perry? (p. 199) 44. What is a spider hole? (p. 202)

Chapters 16-20 45. What is the zipper that Perry hears on the medevac chopper? (p. 208) 46. What different kinds of stress are Perry and the other guys in the squad going through? (p. 209- 231) 47. Why is Perry no longer comfortable outside the Boonies? (p. 213-214) 48. What internal conflict is Perry battling when he receives his orders? (p. 216-217) 49. Why do Peewee and Johnson have a conflict with Dongan? (p. 220-221) 50. Who is affected most by the actions of the Vietnamese woman? Is this surprising? Explain. (p. 231-232) 51. Why does Gearhart have the men put their hands up when the chopper approaches? (p. 262) 52. What is the significance of the forgotten dog tags? (p. 255-256) 53. Why does Peewee punch Jamal in the face? (p. 258)

Chapters 21-23 54. Why don’t the guys want to split up to even out the squads? (p. 272) 55. What is the difference between personal power and positional power? Who in the squad has personal power? Who has positional power? Which is more effective in this squad? (p. 279) 56. Describe what happens when Peewee and Perry check the ridge. (p. 282-294) 57. What does Perry mean when he tells Monaco, “We’re all dead over here”? Will they ever be able to “come back to life”? (p. 300) 58. How is the war “different in the papers”? (p. 305) 59. Whatever happens to Judy Duncan? (p. 307) 60. What is the author’s purpose in contrasting Peewee and Perry with the fat man who complains that the airline doesn’t have the wine he wants? (p. 309)