A guerrilla is member of a smaller, usually independent, and usually less-organized fighting force. Guerrilla warfare tactics tend to avoid direct confrontation, since guerrilla forces are often smaller and less well-equipped than their adversaries. Instead, guerrillas rely on ambushes, terrorism, raids, sabotage, and infiltration tactics. The Vietcong were a guerrilla organization directed by the NVA. However, the Vietcong, NVA, and American military all used guerrilla tactics throughout the Vietnam War.
Guerrilla Quotes in Fallen Angels
The Fallen Angels quotes below are all either spoken by Guerrilla or refer to Guerrilla. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 22
Quotes
It was Monaco. He was sitting against a tree. He had his head in his hands. His piece was about ten meters in front of him. I wanted to go to him, but Peewee stopped me.
“He ain’t sitting there for nothing,” he said.
I looked around. Nothing. What the hell was wrong with this damn war? You never saw anything. There was never anything until it was on top of your ass, and you were screaming and shooting and too scared to figure out anything.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Fallen Angels LitChart as a printable PDF.
Guerrilla Term Timeline in Fallen Angels
The timeline below shows where the term Guerrilla appears in Fallen Angels. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 6
...hooch, Simpson reveals that the solider was a North Vietnamese regular, not one of the guerrillas they usually encounter. He leaves to take a nap. Monaco rounds up the guys for...
(full context)
Chapter 7
...kills. Walowick says one can never know how many they actually kill, because the other guerrillas grab the bodies. They also clean up their artillery shells, leaving no trace of their...
(full context)
Chapter 9
...the same village. Now the squad must go back and lay an ambush for any Vietcong guerillas in the vicinity. Sergeant Simpson explains that they need to show the villagers that the...
(full context)
Chapter 11
...the Second Division of the North Vietnamese Army. The idea that army units, not just guerrilla bands, are active so far south unsettles the officers. They decide to send the fighter...
(full context)
Chapter 13
...North Vietnamese soldiers—who, like the Americans, get training before being sent into battle—rather than Vietcong guerrillas. He worries that the Northern Vietnamese plan to face the Americans directly. Artillery and small...
(full context)
Chapter 14
...talks while they established a position more favorable to themselves, but they worry that Vietcong guerrillas are terrorizing the civilian population to turn them against the Americans. The major warns that...
(full context)
Chapter 18
...the shooting starts almost immediately. Dongan speculates that enlisted Northern Vietnamese soldiers, rather than Vietcong guerrillas, defend the hill. The mortar shells fall closer and closer to the advancing soldiers. Each...
(full context)
