Bullets and Bandages
Contents:
The coming-of-age account shines light on what life is like inside the IDF, detailing all of the physical hardships and challenges, from paratrooper training to combat medic school, and recalling intimate moments such as the first time Terris witnessed childbirth. It chronicles the maturation of new recruits who become serial numbers and eventually commanders who led and perpetuated the traditions of the Israeli military.
The memoir is impressively detailed, matter-of-factly describing autopsies, administering IVs, emergency room uncertainty, and the sudden, disorienting shock of grenade explosions. Steering clear of the romanticization and self-aggrandizement that military memoirs sometimes fall prone to, Bullets to Bandages offers a realistic, accurate look at army life. Soldiers mock how they have to perform guard duty with brooms during basic training, joking about whether the enemy would attack with sand they could sweep away.
The book captures well how the young soldiers joke with one another, relating many witty and cynical exchanges that lighten a difficult experience. The characters, whose names were changed to preserve their anonymity, feel eminently relatable as they commiserate over stretcher marches, injuries, bad food and the various indignities of military service. The relationships between the young soldiers, who provide each other with succor and support, drive the book forward and give it emotional heft.
Bullets to Bandages stands as a compelling account of courage, camaraderie, toughness, and perseverance, giving a glimpse of everyday military life in Israel. Reviewed by Joseph S. To ask other readers questions about Bullets and Bandages , please sign up.
- La Terre-Mère: suivi de Etude sur John Cowper Powys et Joseph Conrad (Psychanalyse et civilisations) (French Edition).
- Bullets and Bandages by Robert J. Saniscalchi.
- On iPlayer.
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- The Grave Robbers Apprentice.
Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Having read several different novels surrounding the Vietnam War, I found Bullets and Bandages by Robert Saniscalchi, to be the most realistic, indeed, horribly so. Because the author did not hold back on either his own fear or the actual events he learned of, the novel becomes very realistic, and the characters are those that you would expect to find in a war th Having read several different novels surrounding the Vietnam War, I found Bullets and Bandages by Robert Saniscalchi, to be the most realistic, indeed, horribly so.
Because the author did not hold back on either his own fear or the actual events he learned of, the novel becomes very realistic, and the characters are those that you would expect to find in a war that nobody wanted. The book opens and closes in an unforgettable scene as Rob Marrino, our main character, sits with the father of Sergeant Green, who had become his best friend, and who had been killed just a few weeks before he was to leave the service and come home.
So Rob starts to talk. His father took it the best and told him that he would be proud to have his son serve his country, as he had, adding that he hoped that it would be the army that he joined. During basic training, they were given an option to move on for more training as a medic, and Rob decided that sounded like something he wanted to do. But Rob was not only a medic, he was an active participant in that war. Rob felt he was under a man with experience and knowledge—Sergeant Jakes.
And soon he met Corporal Clarence Green. The three of them slowly became close friends. Rob Marrino was a praying man. Or maybe he became one once he was in the throes of war.
What we do know is that he prayed continuously. He prayed when getting ready to enter a battle. He prayed in thanks for each time they made it through. Rob Marrino had never been as afraid in his life as he was during his tour in Vietnam. His prayers calmed him and many were grateful for his calm reassurance as he took care of their wounds. It was the lack of honesty, the innate evil of the enemy that was hard for many of our soldiers to accept. Rob, by now, used to that evil, finally came back to the primary camp and saw a Vietnam man snapping pictures of the compound.
There were several individuals with him, pretending that they were being photographed, but what was being photographed was the placement of where everything was located. This was all occurring while guards were on duty.
Bullets and Bandages
They later explained that the man was a local farmer and had been around there for about five years. Combat officers quickly saw the dangers and were constantly alert. Even in the camp, guards did not fully understand the horrors of what was happening in the bush. There is a touch of happiness for Rob when he is wounded. He meets a young nurse from his home state, and they fall in love. Somehow you feel that there in the midst of so many bullets and bandages, God must have brought her to care for him, to provide, through her, just a bit of His love to a weary soldier.
On the whole, however, the story is one in which Americans can take pride. These are the true soldiers of our country, those in the lower ranks that fought for every inch that was won. Here was this man who made it through many brave tours, only to die from snakebite! There was that man who gave it his all, and then was killed during a training accident weeks before leaving for home.
This story is about the men who prayed their way through the Vietnam War.
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I am proud to have had an opportunity to read this unforgettable story. A Must-Read for those who pray for our American soldiers! View all 3 comments.
Bullets and Bandages — Review by Martha A. We left the base as soon as we had word. The choppers lifted off and banked over trees, but I just stared at the body bag, feeling so very tired. I would never forget him. He saved a lot of lives and lost his to a tiny snake. I prayed for him. Sergeant Jakes had already survived one tour in Viet Nam. He knew the VC as well as the jungle. He knew what to watch for and what to listen for.
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Now he was now successfully taking his team through yet another tour. He had been through just about everything the VC could toss at him and lived through it. One that made his home in the jungles of Viet Nam. He would experience the horrors of war that only someone who lives through it can truly claim talking rights. Those of us who have never experienced this act of greed called war can never completely understand what these men and women went through.
Some will tell us about their experiences, some just want to forget what they saw, heard and felt during their days in hell. Being a baby boomer, I knew many boys who quickly became men due to the Viet Nam War. Most came back, some in the bowel of the plane, some in the passenger seats. A lot came back physically damaged while others came back mentally damaged. I have a friend who was there and luckily returned whole, at least in body.
Now 40 years later, he, as well as many others like him still have nightmares that wake the house with his screams as he re-lives the horrors that took place right before his eyes. As I read Bullets and Bandages I realized that the war horrors produced by Hollywood is nothing compared to the real experiences these men and women actually went through. Author Saniscalchi has captured on paper the events and stories that his own brother experienced as he served in the military in Viet Nam.
Turns out the quality is amazing and looked much better than I expected. You experience the strength of their will to survive and the strength of true fear. It is recommended for mature readers only Comment Was this review helpful to you? It chronicles the maturation of new recruits who become serial numbers and eventually commanders who led and perpetuated the traditions of the Israeli military. The book opens and closes in an unforgettable scene as Rob Marrino, our main character, sits with the father of Sergeant Green, who had become his best friend, and who had been killed just a few weeks before he was to leave the service and come home. It is moving and it can be very emotional. He would experience the horrors of war that only someone who lives through it can truly claim talking rights.
He allows you to feel the bond of friendship that forms between yourself and your buddies. You experience the strength of their will to survive and the strength of true fear.