Fallen Angels Chapter 8 Summary

  • Perry is sent to Lieutenant Doyle, who is kind of a nervous guy. He tells Perry that their goal is to establish a presence, not get into a firefight. He sends Perry to a gunner named Scotty so that Perry can feed his machine gun.
  • They go up in a chopper and after they land, Perry and Scotty find the place where they're supposed to be and surround themselves with sandbags, real cozy-like.
  • Perry and Scotty chat a little bit. They talk about how neither of them know what they'll do after the war. Scotty jokes that he's only good for shooting a machine gun.
  • The shooting starts. A call comes down the line that the enemy is detected at four hundred fifty meters in front of them. Perry and Scotty shoot in that direction.
  • Doyle calls for them to cease fire and then calls in Willy Peter, meaning white phosphorous—a chemical weapon. Scotty says that Doyle's cautious and often calls for Willy Peter just in case. Or maybe he just likes the name.
  • They start firing again until Scotty yells for them to cease fire. Choppers fly over to their targets and Scotty and Perry realize they'd just shot at their own men, the First Platoon.
  • They walk to the field and find the wounded. Many of the men have burns, and at least fifteen are brought away in body bags. On that fun note, Perry is sent back to his squad.
  • Perry tells his squadmates that they hit their own guys. Monaco gets really angry. Yeah, it's not the greatest news.
  • A lighter moment: Perry wants to send Kenny something nice for his birthday, so Lieutenant Carroll gives him a jacket he bought in Saigon.
  • That night, Perry can't stop thinking about the wounded and dying men he saw. He asks Brew if he knows any prayers, and Brew says he can borrow his bible whenever. Comforting.