Blog 11A

Book: Sunrise Over Fallujah
Author: Walter Dean Myers
Pages read this week: 75
Pages read this semester: 1496
Weekly Style: Questions
Summary
The whole unit is feeling the loss of Pendleton. The first squad is asked to accompany another officer to Fallujah. They were to hold talks with a Sheik over there. The talks went as planned and both sides assured each other of mutual cooperation and trust. The squad had to spend a night in a hospital in Fallujah, where conditions are unsanitary and bad. Captain Miller, who is a doctor, goes on to inspect the hospital. Early in the morning, when Robin goes to bathroom, he saves Captain Miller from being raped by two Iraqis. Miller is completely shaken by this disgusted incident. People who need their help are not respecting the saviors. After that, the squad is sent to Doha for some rest. After that, they are sent to an area near Iran-Iraq border where they will work with secret ops to get acquire detonators used to make IEDs from a tribe. In the ambush, Jonesy is killed while Robin is wounded. After that “successful” operation, the squad is disbanded and everyone is sent to different places with all wondering whether or not they will meet again. The writer beautifully portrays the randomness of the war once again.

Questions
Que. 1: Why did you choose this story? Has it met your expectations so far? Why or why not?
Ans.: I chose this story as I wanted to feel the reality of war and experience it. After reading A Farewell to Arms, I had a desire to find out how a soldier in two of America’s notorious wars (Iraq or Vietnam) felt. My decision to read this book was made before we decided to read The Things They Carried in class. I wanted a true picture of war in Iraq because the news media often painted a blurry image of Iraq and the government is, perhaps, covering up stuff. For the most part, it met my expectations. I was exposed to new variety of sentence structure and style which best fits the theme and background of the novel. The author has done a fairly good job of correctly portraying picture of how a soldier feels in a war where neither the motive nor the enemy is vivid.

Que. 2: What does the story make you wonder about, and why?
Ans.: When I finished reading this book, I could not help thinking about the warriors who are fighting in Iraq, and about those who are awaiting their safe return. I even had dreams of fighting in a war. I was not into this book, but into the war. I can feel the war. For the first time in my life I realized that no matter how much courage one has, death is death, and bullets are bullets. It takes a huge amount of courage to both. I had known this, but realized it now.