Dear America Letters Home Analysis

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Imagine facing the horrors of a war at the young age of 19. In the real world as well as fictional novels, the Vietnam War was considered to be a war unlike any other. Many soldiers faced untold brutal challenges, and often wondered who the enemy truly was. In numerous depicted pieces of literature such as Fallen Angels the fictional stories cannot begin to compare to the real traumatic ones. Research has shown that the traumatic circumstances have caused soldiers mental stress. Research shows the brutality that the soldiers of the Vietnam War went through, the novel Fallen Angels and the video series “Dear America: Letters Home” are very similar in this depiction, but also have slight differences.
Fallen Angels and "Dear America: Letters Home" both focus on the Vietnam War and giving us a look into the life of a soldier. Fallen Angels is a novel that gives readers insight into the mind of a soldier. …show more content…

Many of them will have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and some will even commit suicide because of their fear and paranoia from being in combat. PTSD is a mental health condition that is caused by living through a traumatic event. Symptoms of PTSD are flashbacks, nightmares, and anxiety, though there are many more. For example, here is a quote from Fallen Angels: "The noise was terrible. Every time a mortar went off, I jumped. I couldn’t help myself. The noise went into you. It touched part of you that were small and frightened and wanting your mommy." (Myers, 244) This quote shows how terrifying war can be for the young soldiers; Perry is showing early signs of PTSD. At least 30% of Vietnam veterans have suffered from PTSD after being deployed. Additionally, 85% of those diagnosed still suffer from PTSD, even 30 years after the war ended. Unfortunately, the soldiers who suffer from PTSD will never be the same as they were before the

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