By Walter Dean Myers

• Main character, 17 yrs. old and just out of high school
• From NYC and family doesn’t have much money
• Has a brother (Kenny) and mother
• Smart enough to attend college, but couldn’t afford it
• Dreams of being a writer

• From the Chicago ghettos
• Family didn’t have much money
• Likes the army because he has what everyone else has
• Best friend to Richie

• Platoon leader
• Does everything “by the book”
• Accessible to his platoon and willing to listen
• Dark hair and calm eyes

• Replaces Lt. Carroll
• 25 or 26 years old
• From Delaware and was a linebacker in high school
• Makes a major mistake while on patrol

• New sergeant for the platoon replacing Sgt. Simpson
• “old” to the soldiers – in his 30s or
40s
• Platoon believes he’s racist because he puts Johnson in the back

• A Polish kid with dimples who has
“more teeth than he needs”
• A member of Richie’s platoon

• Tall and a “little pudgy”
• Hair with curls like a perm
• As tall as Richie and Jewish
• Experiences prejudice for his religion and his suspected sexual orientation
• Obsessed with movies

• Real last name is “Brewster”
• Got into Theology school
• Religious
• Nicknamed “Rev. Brew” by the platoon

• Very scared
• From Fort Dix
• Good at imitating people
• His father’s a colonel with a “game plan” for Jenkins’ success

• Black, tall, bigger than Richie
• Strong, from Savannah, GA
• Surprisingly sensitive
• Refuses to believe Brew is dead

• Sergeant of the squad
• Black with a high voice
• Only has 120 days left in the army and counting down

• sweet-faced Italian kid
• Always takes the dangerous position as “point man” – slightly braver than the rest
• Couldn’t decide if he should marry his girlfriend

• Corporal, very ambitious
• Constantly kisses up to the higher ranked soldiers
• Abuses those beneath him