Robert J. Saniscalchi

Bullets and Bandages – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat and Think With Your Taste Buds – Desserts

“Where have you guys been?” I said. “We ran out of time! My buddy here needed help, but now he’s dead!” They tried to calm me down. The flight medic replied, “We’re sorry about your man. We left the base as soon as we had word. I’ve seen this snake before. It’s one of the most poisonous in the world. No one can survive the venom unless they’re right outside a hospital when they are bitten.” He was right. It wasn’t their fault. 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. I prayed for his family and for his lost soul; I prayed it wasn’t my turn next.

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. 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. The one thing he didn’t live through was the bite of one of the most poisonous snakes in the world. One that made his home in the jungles of Viet Nam.

That was just one of many deaths that Rob Doc Marrino would have to face while serving as a Medic in 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. 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. But most importantly, their understanding of the importance of God in their survival.

I can’t say that I loved Bullets and Bandages but I can say that I didn’t want to put it down, that it made me hurt as well as cry and that I was so glad when the book ended. In the past I’ve heard men talking about their experiences in Viet Nam and actually blocked it out. Now I listen because these men and women need to be heard. They need to get their memories out in the open instead of allowing it to fester like a cancer until it consumes their whole body and life. And we need to be the ones listening.

ISBN# 978-1-58982-247-4

Review Stir, Laugh, Repeat at Amazon.com Stir, Laugh, Repeat… (más)

As the author I do not think it fair to do my own review, but I would like to share what the critics have been saying, the Buzz about my book.
It has been said---- "Bullets and Bandages is like watching a war movie." "A must read for all not just soldiers and veterans" " A moving sometimes graphic account of war from a medic's point of view." "Action, if that is what you are looking for, Bullets and Bandages is full of it."
I believe everyone that has sat down and read my story was happy they did so. It truly is a must read given our currents events. This book is as relevant today as it was years ago.

God Bless America!

… (más)

It’s a good thing the story was interesting, ’cause the narrator was terrible. Every line read in the same dull, boring, lifeless tone of voice. He could put an insomniac to sleep. He managed to do a few different voices and accents, they were barely passable at best, but equally as boring. The narrator kept saying “O-700 hours” or “O-800 hours”, I can’t believe I have to bring this up so often; O isn’t a number. Something I found to be even more insufferable was how he kept mispronouncing words. “Farmiliar” isn’t a word and “rations” doesn’t have a y in it. There were a few times when I had to stop to figure out what he was trying to say.

As for the story itself, it was well-told and coherent. It went into graphic detail territory from time to time, which might scare away some, but it’s a war memoir, what would you expect? It’s sad at times, emotional and heartbreaking, and infuriating at others. It’s an interesting read (skip the audiobook), but it tries too heavily to paint the U.S. in a good light. It reads like a pro-U.S. propaganda memoir.

Issues I take with the story itself are how a few characters are talking about how the soldiers are fighting for their freedom. I don’t, nor will I ever hero-worship people who invade foreign countries and murder their civilians, while our own government restricts our so-called freedoms, then praise them for saving our freedoms, which they didn’t do. Another issue is the constant use of military terms without any sort of glossary. I know 0700 hours refers to the time of day and LZ is landing zone, but there were many others I wasn’t aware of.

Finally, if this is the revised edition, why is it that the author kept referring to a venomous snake as poisonous? Venom is injected, and poison is consumed. At one point, the doc sucks out the venom from a soldier’s snake bite which is an incredibly stupid and dangerous thing to do. If you have a sore or cut in your mouth or throat, that snake venom will be poison. I feel a note should have been made if this actually happened, and if not, this incredibly stupid idea should have had a warning next to it.

If you’re looking for an unbiased and honest history lesson on what went down in Vietnam, this isn’t the place. I think it’s interesting and worth a read if you go in aware that it reads like pro-U.S. filtered propaganda that paints the U.S. soldiers as heroes. I personally recommend the book “A True History of the United States: Indigenous Genocide, Racialized Slavery, Hyper-Capitalism, Militarist Imperialism and Other Overlooked Aspects of American Exceptionalism“. It’s a much more honest history lesson about what the U.S. has been up to these last few hundred years. While it’s not about Vietnam specifically, it doesn’t read like propaganda.

NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.… (más)