Fallen Angels Setting

Fallen Angels Setting

Upon his arrival in the country, Richie is sent to the American base at Chu Lai in South Vietnam. He spends the greater part of his tour of duty on patrols and pacification missions in the villages nearby. Richie describes the monotony and tediousness of army life—long days punctuated by predictably bland meals, mail call, and the brief but terrifying forays into the Fallen Angels 3119 countryside where violence and death occur with astonishing and numbing consistency. The physical danger Richie and his comrades face is framed within the ever-present threat of death and the black body bags awaiting those "warrior angels who fall."

Richie's one respite from duty is at a hospital where he recovers from minor shrapnel wounds and is awarded a purple heart. Given orders to rejoin his unit, Richie arrives in time for the Tet Offensive. He earns yet another purple heart before being...
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