Sunrise Over Fallujah, by Walter Dean Myers

In the book Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers, one reoccurring theme is irony. The main character, Birdy, comes from a long line of soldiers in his family. He joins the Army to continue his family's legacy, but also to enjoy the camaraderie of other solders, and to do good for his country. But he is faced with the conflict of 'doing good', and being a 'peace-keeper' while engaging in violent acts.

Birdy is in the C.A. or Civil Affairs unit.  They are soldiers whose mission is to get the Iraqi people to like and understand the US soldiers and know that they are not trying to hurt them. The irony is that they still have to struggle and fight against the Iraqi people, even though that isn't their mission.

An example of this is when Birdy's unit is searching a building in Iraq, and they come across a family of an elderly couple with their grandchildren. The oldest grandchild is holding an RPG. The family tries to tell Birdy that their grandson is innocent and he wasn't planning on using the weapon. But the CA is forced to take him into custody because they can't trust him. None of the CA think the boy was going to try to hurt them but they can't be so sure. While the boy is being held, he tries to escape, so despite all his pleas of innocence, the CA is forced to shoot him. This was the first death Birdy had witnessed, of a kid, who may or may not have been innocent.  Birdy tries to convince himself that the kid was guilty, but he can't know for sure.  And this shows him how violent and terrible war can be, even when trying to be peaceful,  and how quickly this kid went from living to dead.

In another scene, Birdy is at an Iraqi hospital where the wounded civilians and soldiers are being taken care of he says, "None of it was good. I didn't want to be connected with the wounds, or with the dying. It all looked so much better in the training films……When it was all just a video game. But up close, the smell of blood was connected with real people. I knew that many of them wouldn't make it." Throughout the book, Birdy is shocked by the violence and cruelty of the war.  Even though the C.A. is supposed to be peaceful, they still are forced to hurt, and even  kill innocent people, that makes them just as bad as any other mercenary in the army. I think that is the same in every war, no matter how peaceful you try to be, When you invade another person's country or home you are disturbing their peace and that could be just as bad as killing them.