How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
The guys that our artillery blew away didn't have a reason to die. They hadn't been facing the enemy. They just died because someone else was scared, maybe careless. They died because they were in Nam, where being scared made you do things you would regret later. We were killing our brothers, ourselves. (8.108)
Human error is a part of war, and sometimes it means the wrong side gets killed. It's not easy to accept for Perry, but he's learning that there's a lot that's unfair about war.
Quote #5
I noticed that lately there were things I would let myself think about, and things I wouldn't. But every once in a while things would come into my mind, not like a thought but like a picture, and I felt a little strange about that. (9.18)
So, seeing memories like they're pictures? Not a good sign. It's like Perry can't handle the memories as they are, so his brain turns them into still images so they're easier to deal with. It's like photography, except in your head and definitely a sign of trauma.
Quote #6
We spent another day lying around. It seemed to be what the war was about. Hours of boredom, seconds of terror. (11.24)
The combat part is pretty scary, don't get us wrong, and Perry's definitely not clamoring to see more innocent people die around him. But being bored sucks too, even if it sucks less than fighting for your life. Literary note: hours of boredom don't exactly make for a fascinating story, so it's impressive that Walter Dean Myers managed to write about both sides of being at war.