Preface and Information on the Story
Original Edition Copyright 2007 by Robert J. Saniscalchi.
All rights reserved. New Revised Fourth Edition
ISBN:9798497616101 ASIN: B09JVKGZGZ
Bullets and Bandages: Bond of Brothers 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
*
A Novel by ROBERT J. SANISCALCHI
“Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.”
GENERAL GEORGE S. PATTON
PAST 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 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.
Author’s Note: While Bullets and Bandages is a work of historical fiction; on this fourth edition, the author strived to keep the details, locations, equipment and protocol as realistic as possible out of respect for his brother’s service to his country and for all Vietnam Veterans.
