John Bartle
The main character and the narrator of the novel he was thrown into war really young. He joined the army because he wanted to become a man. He was bullied in school because he liked to read, liked poetry. To Bartle war is pointless. It leaves young men physically and mentally crippled. He feels that he doesn't deserve the gratitude he is receiving upon returning from war, so he becomes isolated, haunted by what happened in Iraq and by the death of his companion Murph. He feels guilty for not keeping the promise he made to Murph's mother-that he will bring her son back. At the end he lets the memory of Murph go but the fact that he ends up living isolated in a cabin by the mountains tells us that the memory of war will never leave him.
Daniel Murphy
Daniel Murphy, a soldier only eighteen years old, is Bartle's companion that dies in Iraq. He is described as clumsy, small in frame and often smiling. Opposite to Bartle, who was able to survive through the atrocities of war, Murph couldn't handle what was happening in Iraq. After the only hope, the only compassion in the form of the female medic, that kept him somewhat sane and therefore alive was gone, he was then completely lost.
Sergeant Sterling
Sterling is described as tall and muscular. He is strict and intimidating. It can be said that he is the image of an efficient brave soldier, but his efficiency is appreciated as he is keeping the rest of the group alive. Bartle describes Sterling, despite what anyone says, as a man who cared for anyone but himself, as a man who didn't think that he was allowed to do something for himself, well, except the one thing--killing himself.
