Summary
In the book Purple Heart by Patricia McCormick the main character, Matt, is in a military accident where he is forced to fight through his injury, and his own mind, and get back to his squad in the field of battle. The story starts with Matt waking up in an army hospital in Iraq and is completely clueless of what is going on. All he can remember is a haunting memory of a young iraqi boy getting shot and thrown backwards into the wall. Due to the head injury he sustained after this happened, Matt can't seem to put everything together. With some help of a friend he meets in the hospital, Meaghan Finnerty, his counselor, and his buddy Justin, Matt is able to slowly find out what happened to him and recover enough to be sent back to his squad. When he arrives back to his friends, they all welcome him back and nothing has seemed to change since he left. After he settles in, they go back on patrol in an iraqi market. While they are there, they are hit by a surprise attack when a bomb goes off and they are ambushed after. Two of Matt's buddies, and team members are killed and his best friend, Justin, is severely injured. Just before Justin is flown away, he says to Matt "I did it, you know." This is a turning point in the book because this memory Matt has had nightmares about since his injury, had haunted him thinking he had shot the little boy, when in reality, it was Justin. After a lot of thinking and reflecting on the situation Matt finally realizes that life goes on. Yes he may have lost some close friends, but he just has to continue on with his life and overcome any obstacles life challenges him with.