Multimedia Project on the Vietnam War
Walter Dean Myers's novel FALLEN ANGELS is the tale of a young soldier who enlists in the army. Far from the mean streets of Harlem, the jungles of Vietnam offer Richie Perry a little more than what he had bargained for.

Fresh out of high school, and a mere 17 years of age, Richie enlists with the hope of getting three square meals a day, and to send some money home to his mother and to his younger brother Kenny. Although he dreamed of college and a career as a writer, Richie realizes that he is just too poor to make his dream come true. His only consolation is a knee injury that certainly will keep him from seeing active duty.

But no one prepares Richie for the red tape and the delays, or for the horrific sights of war, or for watching his friends die one by one, or for finding out what it is like to kill. Suddenly Richie must cope with the heat, the humidity, the bugs, the napalm, the body bags and a war he hadn't expected to participate in.