The Yellow Birds

John Bartle describes writing a letter to Ladonna Murphy, Murph’s mother. Murph dies ten months after Bartle meets him for the first time, and Bartle knows that this period of his life will affect him permanently. After Murph’s death, overwhelmed by strong emotions, Bartle decides—without truly understanding why—to write a letter to Murph’s mother in which he pretends to be Murph. He assumes that Mrs. Murphy will probably believe him since she must not have received many letters from her son. Much later, Bartle learns that Mrs. Murphy read the letter with snow falling around her and wonders if that fact is symbolic, since it was also snowing on the day Bartle met Murph.

Although Bartle knows that it was wrong to write that letter, he feels that he has done so many terrible things in the war that he is no longer able to judge his own actions. Bartle then recalls his first meeting with Murph. Both of them were at Fort Dix, New Jersey, waiting to be sent to Iraq. Sergeant Sterling, whom Bartle describes as a severe but noble, much-admired officer, tells Murph to follow everything Bartle does and stay with him at all times. While Bartle has been in the army for two years, Murph has only joined the army recently. Bartle compares Murph to Sergeant Sterling, since both are blond, but concludes that while Sterling is an exceptional soldier, Murph is simply an ordinary fighter.

When Murph moves his belongings next to Bartle’s, the two of them chat. They discover that they are both from Virginia, but Bartle feels annoyed, because he does not want to become close to Murph and feel responsible for him. Bartle describes their mutual impulse to join the military as a desire to escape their small-town routines and give a grander meaning to their lives.

In the meantime, as the days go by, Bartle and Murph know that their departure date is approaching. When Sterling meets with the two asks them how old they are, Bartle is surprised to learn that Murph is only eighteen, although, when he looks back on this time, he realizes that he, too, at the age of twenty-one, was also extremely young. Sterling, who is shocked at how young they are—although Bartle knows that Sterling himself must not be much older—tells them that they will be with him in Iraq and need to promise to do everything he says, because the situation there is likely to be extremely violent and chaotic.

Sterling concludes their meeting by telling them that, from a purely statistical perspective, it is inevitable that people are going to die. That night, when they are in bed, Murph asks Bartle if they are going to be okay. Bartle reassures him that they are, although he does not believe it himself.

The next day, the boys attend a safety briefing and practice marksmanship, impressing Sterling with their shooting skills. When Murph asks Sterling what Iraq is like, Sterling gives the two of them practical advice, telling them that they will need to find their most aggressive impulses and make themselves want to shoot the enemy, which Sterling says he will help them with. Reflecting on Sterling in retrospect, Bartle concludes that Sterling is very brave, willing to sacrifice himself for someone else’s life without a second thought.

That day, the soldiers spend the evening with their families for the last time before leaving for Iraq. Bartle’s mother comes and feels upset about her son leaving for the war, but tries to accept the situation and have a good time with him. Bartle recalls the day he decided to leave the house at eighteen, and wonders if he might die in Iraq and his mother might have to bury him. As she is leaving, he promises her that he will stop smoking and that he will write to her, although he lights another cigarette after watching her car leave the army base.

Bartle then meets Murph’s mom, who is glad to know that Bartle and Murph are becoming good friends. Although Bartle does not want to be responsible for Murph, he finds himself promising Mrs. Murphy to bring her son back to her. Later, Sterling, who has overheard this conversation, confronts Bartle and tells him that he shouldn’t have promised that. When Bartle tries to argue that it doesn’t matter, Sterling punches him twice in the face. Bartle stays lying in the snow for a while and then returns to his bunk. Bartle looks out at the stars, knowing that some of the ones he is seeing have already died. He feels like he is looking at a lie, and concludes that the world makes everyone a liar.