South Vietnamese veteran Hung Son, seated left, answered questions from North Lamar juniors who just completed reading the book, Fallen Angels, in Melissa Arnold’s AP English class. The students made comparisons of events in the book to those real life experiences Son faced while fighting for his county’s freedom during the Vietnam War.
South Vietnamese veteran Hung Son (left) answers questions from North Lamar junior AP English students as they compare a book about the Vietnam War with the real accounts of Son. Translating for him and class members is his daughter, Nhi, with peers, Ryan Conner and Kathleen Dawson.
Set in the trenches of the Vietnam War in the late 1960s, Walter Dean Myers’ novel depicts a coming-of-age teenager, Perry, from Harlem who volunteers for the service when his dream of attending college falls through. Perry and his platoon are sent to the front lines where they come face-to-face with the Viet Cong and the real horror of warfare. Violence and death aren’t the only hardships Perry is up against. He struggles to find virtue in himself and his comrades, he questions why black troops are given the most dangerous assignments, and why the U.S. is even there at all.
In the book, praying and writing letters to loved ones were a source of comfort for those fighting, but Son said grasping reality, not being afraid, and especially the desire for independence is what kept him going.
He said although they had to be ready at all times, the other soldiers in his unit would occasionally talk in small groups about their family life and that they were like a family among themselves. In the book, Perry and his platoon, too, shared stories of home and developed a family-like relationship among one other.
Son served in the war for a year and a half before getting hit from the shrapnel of a grenade. He was then imprisoned for four years.
When asked if he would enlist again, Son says without a doubt. He would do it all over again. To be free and independent from the Viet Cong communist was the dream of many. After losing the war, Son said he and his Vietnamese soldiers felt like prisoners all over again.
South Vietnam soldiers were appreciative of the United States for sending soldiers to fight with them. So when the opportunity presented itself, Son came to America eight years ago where he gained his independence. With a smile on his face, and through the translation of his daughter and class member, Nhi, the students learned that Son had just recently become a U.S. citizen. The class applauded the man who had fought so hard for something often taken for granted.
Today, South Vietnam is biding their time and the issue of independence from the north is still not settled. A day of remembrance much like Memorial Day is held in South Vietnam on April 30 of each year to honor and remember those who fought and lost their lives during the war.
Arnold and her students presented Son with a signed copy of Fallen Angel to show their admiration and appreciation.
“Mr. Son’s account of the Vietnam War has made me see things in a different way,” Arnold said later. “My students told me that he brought the novel to life for them.”