Fallen Angels

As Perry’s company prepares to be evacuated, they contemplate what to do with their dead; they do not have enough time to load them into the evacuation helicopters because they have been told that a North Vietnamese battalion is en route to the village, and the Viet Cong are known to mutilate the dead bodies of their enemies. They begin to remove the gear from the dead American soldiers, collecting their dog tags and moving the bodies into a single hut to be burned. Monaco notices that a soldier in the pile of bodies is still alive, but he is mortally wounded. Some soldiers from Charlie Company recognize the soldier as one of their own and put him out of his misery. The hut is set on fire, and the surviving American and South Vietnamese soldiers leave for the evacuation point.

During the confusion and panic, the dog tags of the dead soldiers are left behind. Perry wonders what the United States Army would do for these men who were killed in action. He thinks about them writing letters to the families explaining that the men’s bodies were burnt while their comrades ran away in fear.