By:  Walter Dean Myers
 

Discussion Guide By:   Patrick Bowes
 
 

CAUTION:  This book contains foul language.  Under no circumstances should this
                     book be used without written consent from parents.

Setting:  Vietnam, 1967 - 1968
        Cu Chi
        Chu Lai

Main Characters:
   Richie Perry -- protagonist from NY
   Lobel -- tall, pudgy soldier
   Johnson -- African-American soldier from Savannah, Georgia
   Brunner -- angry soldier with blond hair
   Peewee Gates -- soldier from Chicago
   Judy Duncan -- nurse from Irving, Tx
   Ken Perry - brother of Richie
   Jenkins - new guy from Fort Dix
   Lieutenant Carroll
   Sergeant Simpson
   Monaco - Italian-American on point
   Brewster -- soldier in squad
   Walowick - soldier in squad
   Scotty - machine gunner
   Lieutenant Doyle
   Nate Turner - new soldier in squad
   Darren Lewis -- new soldier in squad
   Captain Stewart
   Lieutenant Gearhart
   Jamal -- medic
   Dongan
   Father Santora
 

Style: First Person
 

Reading and Discussion Schedule
Section #1:  Pages 3 through 69 -------- Due Friday, January 5
Section #2: Pages 70 through 150 ----- Due Tuesday, January 9
Section #3: Pages 151 through 231 --- Due Friday, January 12
Section #4: Pages 232 through 309 --- Due Tuesday, January 16
NOTE: Answer 3 questions in each section.

Here are some military terms and slang words used in the book.  It may be too difficult for children to look up these words and understand them, so definitions are given.

anti-aircraft fire -- normally surface to air missiles, used to shoot down planes

ARVN -- South Vietnamese army

battalion -- a considerable body of troops organized to act together

body bag -- bag used to hold a dead body

C-rations -- canned food carried by soldiers

Charlie, Victor Charlie, Cong, Vietcong --  names used by U.S. to describe the enemy

cherries - rookies, new guys

Dear John letter -- a letter from a girl friend ending a relationship

DMZ - demilitarized zone

hemophilia -- a hereditary blood defect that occurs almost exclusively in males and is
                         characterized by delayed clotting of the blood and consequent difficulty
                         in controlling hemorrhage even after minor injuries.

hooches -- a usually thatched hut

Huey - big helicopter used in Vietnam

interdiction - cut off routes used by the Viet Cong

ONTOS - antitank weapon

pacification mission -- mission of goodwill intended to win the hearts and minds of
                             the South Vietnamese peasants.

parasol -  light umbrella, protection from the sun

platoon --  a subdivision of a company-size military unit normally consisting of two or
                   more squads or sections

Pueblo incident -- boat captured by the North Koreans

punji sticks -- bamboo sticks sharpened and used as weapons or in booby traps

RPG -  rocket propelled grenade

reconnaissance -- an exploratory military survey of enemy territory

rucksack -- backpack

sappers - Vietnamese suicide squads

smoke  - refers to marijuana

spider hole - hole dug in the ground big enough for one or two men

squad -- a small organized group of military personnel

Tet --the Vietnamese New Year observed during the first several days of the lunar
         calendar beginning at the second new moon after the winter solstice.

truce -- a suspension of fighting especially of considerable duration by agreement of
             opposing forces

Uncle Tom -- a black who is overeager to win the approval of whites

venereal disease --   a sexually transmitted disease

white phosphorous -- used in bombs, would cause burning

1) If you were leaving home and heading to a far off country such as Vietnam, how do
    you think you would feel?  Would you be scared?  If so, how would you handle your
    fear?

2) Richie was a good athlete who had a knee injury. He was supposed to receive a
    medical profile, which would keep him in safer areas doing clerical work.  Do you
    feel men and women who have sports injuries should receive medical profiles that
    would keep them out of battle?

3) Why does Gates tell Richie the story of the pool room event in Chicago?
 
4) Why would American soldiers refer to the North Vietnamese army as “charlie” or
    “cong”?

5) Do you think the fact that the Americans were significantly taller than the
    Vietnamese had any effect on the Vietnamese or the Americans?

6) What effect did what happened to Jenkins have on Richie and the other new
    soldiers?

7) What does “body count” mean?  Why is it important for Captain Stewart Simpson to
    get his body count up?  What is your opinion of this practice?

8) At the end of this section, Richie began to question why he was in Vietnam.  Why do
     you think he was just now beginning to ask this question?

1) A television crew asks the squad why they were fighting in Vietnam.  Of the reasons given,
    whose do you agree with most - why?  Whose response, other than Peewee, do you agree
    with least?  Why?  Do you feel there were other reasons?  If so, what were they?

2) Look up the meaning of the word "surreal" and apply it to this section.

3) Jamal confuses Richie by saying the “count” is three VC as opposed to one.  This was a
    common practice during the war.  Why do you think our military would want to say we killed
    more of the enemy than we actually did?  Do you think this is right, fair, just?  (Consider, too,
    that it was virtually impossible to get accurate counts of the enemy we killed.)

4) After mail call, in what new way does Richie suddenly think of the VC they had killed?  Is it
    good for Richie to think of him this way?

5) Why did Johnson and Walowick get into a fight?  What was the reason behind the fight?

6) In a battle on pages 102 and 103 an American platoon is mistakenly attacked by Americans.
   This is called “friendly fire.”   Do you think this sort of thing could happen often?  How do you
    think friendly fire could be avoided.

7)  Richie is confused by an assignment to go into villages and do nice things to convince the
    people of South Vietnam that the Americans were the “good guys.”  This was an actual
    approach by the United States during the Vietnam War called pacification.  Why do you think
    pacification was necessary?  Do you think this approach worked?  Why or why not?

8) Concerning the battle on pages 124 & 125, why didn’t Monaco the point man see the Viet Cong
    first and alert the others?  What happened?

9) Imagine that you are a soldier in Vietnam and your friend is seriously wounded.  Write a letter
    to his or her family explaining what happened and how you feel.

1)  What should the army do with soldiers who commit terrible acts?

2) At the time of the Vietnam War our military had a policy that no women would be in
    combat.  Today, though, after fighting for equal rights women may serve in combat
    situations.  This is a very divisive issue that is still debated today.  What is your
    opinion?  Do you feel that women should serve in combat situations?

3) Lieutenant Gearhart says that he wasn’t prejudiced but he just never thought much
    about black people.  In 1968 there were many race problems and race riots in the
    United States, in fact it was the year that Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated
    and riots swept across the country.  Many African-Americans, including boxer
    Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali,) wondered why they should have to fight for America
    in Vietnam when they didn’t have equal rights at home.  Do you feel African-
    Americans should have fought along side whites in Vietnam?  What do you think
    race relations were like in Vietnam?

4) After Richie shoots the Cong man in self defense, why does he continue shooting
    at an unarmed wounded man?  Do you think Richie should be brought up on
    charges for doing what he did?

5) Sergeant Simpson decided to stay in Vietnam for an extra 30 days.  Why did he
    agree to stay longer?  What was the reason given for other men to extend their
    service?  Do you think they should have?

6) The spirit behind this entire unit is found on page 200.  Discuss it and what it
     means to you.

7) Why did Richie agree to pray with Father Santora?  Write three adjectives
    describing Father Santora.

8) Sometimes authors embellish situations or scenes to drive home a point by
    making it more dramatic than it actually was, other times they present scenes
    based on actual events.  Do you feel the scene of the mother handing the explosive
    laden child to an American soldier is overly dramatic or based on an actual event?
    What point is the author trying to make by relating this story?

1)  What time is it when it is 1400 hours?

2) There are approximately 2,000 men still missing in action or unaccounted for.
    Given what you have read, how is this possible?  The United States and Vietnam
    continue to search for the remains of those still missing.  Should we continue to
    spend the time and effort to try to find these bodies?

3) Again there is talk about the North Vietnamese soldiers not being people.  Why do
    the men continue talking in this manner?

4) Richie says that he, Peewee, and Monaco are not all right and that they would have
    to learn to be alive again.  What did he mean by that?  Do you think he will be able to
    learn to be alive again?

5) Nurse Judy Duncan didn’t make it out of Vietnam alive.  There is much discussion
    about the role that men played in Vietnam and they are finally receiving some of
    their overdue honor.  Do you feel, though, that the women who served have received
    their just due?  Why or why not?

6) Using a scale of 1 - 20, with 20 being superior, rate this book and provide support
     for your rating.  (Prepare this rating, but it does NOT count as one of the three that
     must be answered.)