Original Copyright 2007 by Robert J. Saniscalchi.

All rights reserved.

 

Third Edition ISBN: 9798609831347

ASIN: B084HNYGB6

 

Bullets and Bandages is a work of fiction - a story created by the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to real places or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

 

Editor: Matt McAvoy

 

 

 


 


 

 

BULLETS AND BANDAGES

 

Bond of Brothers

 

*

 

ROBERT J. SANISCALCHI


 

 


 

 

 

 “Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.”

GENERAL GEORGE S. PATTON

 

 


 

 

COMMENTS, PRAISE FROM THE READERS:

“The kind of riveting read that will linger in the mind and memory long after the novel has been finished. Bullets and Bandages: Bond of Brothers is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to community library.”

MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

 

“The action is constant and Saniscalchi’s work, as a result, is an action-packed war story, suited to the silver screen.”

CATHERINE PERKINS, of the Historical Novel Society.

 

“I believe this book brings honor and glory to those who served in this war (especially the field medics)…”

WAYNE A. WHITEHEAD Forward Air Controller

{MING HO TIGERS) Vietnam 65-66


 

 

DEDICATION

 

Bullets and Bandages: Bond of Brothers  is dedicated to  all of our military veterans of past wars, and to all of those in the United States Armed Forces, who serve to protect our freedom today.


 


 


 

PREFACE

 

The first time I heard my brother Pat’s war stories, we were in his truck, heading north for the hunting cabin. I sat there in awe, listening and feeling very proud of him. It had taken years before he could talk about it, and I thought that maybe he had needed those years, to let the pain of some of those memories fade.

I never realized before just how close I had come to losing him. I thanked God, for he must have been watching over my brother. When he told of more and more of his adventures, I imagined those experiences; visions of jungles, combat, survival and death flashed through my mind. 

After listening to those stories, I found myself thinking about the war often. What if it were me out there, roaming around the jungles of Vietnam? Could I have survived the war? 

Over time, I scribbled down the details, to help me remember what my brother had survived through. I did not realize it at the time, but that is how I was beginning this book. Slowly, I began to piece the story together, until the need to sit down and write it became clear to me - I had a story, and it needed to be told.

Some of this book is based on the actual experiences of my older brother, who served our country in Vietnam, from ‘68 to ‘69. Patrick was a U.S. Army field medic; in my story, he becomes the main character. It was Pat’s stories which gave me the insight and feel for some of the combat scenes in the story; some of the non-combat scenes are from my own experiences, growing up during that period. The final push for me to actually sit down and write this tale was the tragedy of September 11, 2001, and the swell of patriotism it evoked in many of us.

I was around fourteen at the time of the war. I read some of Patrick’s letters and wrote him back; I followed the war, on T.V. and in the newspapers. I missed him and prayed to see him again.

I hope that reading about my character Rob Marrino’s adventures helps invoke a sense of pride in those who have served, or presently serve, our country, in the war for freedom and democracy.


 

 

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

 

Some memories exist because they are etched onto one’s mind - by fire and the anguish of true experiences, rather than by choice. I am filled with experiences from my tour of duty in Vietnam, which cannot be wiped away.

I can recall events, names and faces, as if they were right in front of me, but a short time ago. To this day, I thank the Lord in my prayers, for helping me to survive. Sometimes, I dream of the tranquil rice fields, or of the hot, steamy jungles, when everything was very quiet and peaceful. Occasionally, I dream of the men that I could not save, and of the ghastly shadows of my enemies. These images are a contradictory and discordant collage of the horror of war. I have no misgivings about what was done: I was a soldier, doing my duty for my country, in a war far away from my home.

It was a war in which our forces were not allowed to fully engage the enemy; the American military could move neither north or west, nor go on strategic offensive, to take the ground war to Hanoi or Cambodia. If I had not learned this new type of warfare, I would not have survived; it was a guerrilla war and I learned to adapt. 

In time, I began to know the enemy and to anticipate his movements. My unit travelled through the jungles, in platoons, in search of Charlie (enemy forces), our nerves constantly on edge. With a little time, my platoon began to work together; we learned to think like the enemy, and to use our instincts, to fight together as a team. When the enemy would stand and fight, we fought back, until they ran. My only regret is that we could not be more aggressive - chase them down and attack them more often. Instead, the enemy would slip away into the jungle and hide. Unfortunately, I knew that, before long, those same troops would try to sneak up on us again.