Freedom's Light by Robert Saniscalchi - May We Remember

Our Prayers...



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review-robert-saniscalchis-second-book.html

http://gabixlerreviews-bookreadersheaven.blogspot.com/2010/04/
review-my-life-for-her-by-robert-j.html

Haven't read this author?
Check out my reviews of his first two books!

Preface
Stretching all the way back through the seemingly endless millenniums of time, there has been one constant, as sure as the sun rises every day. That constant as the relentless struggle of good against evil, and it's as relevant today as it was so very long ago.
On one side, we have the free, peaceful, hardworking, loving people who stand in the light of the Earth. On the other side lurk the dark, evil ones, hiding in the shadows, waiting to kill anyone unlike them.
The evil ones can't begin to comprehend what it is to be peacefulo, to be free. They are always waiting and watching, making plans to down the innocent, to terrorize and plunder until their appetite for blood is sated. Not until the year 2001 and the shocking relity that no one is truly safe from the darkness of this evil did America and the world begin to wake up.
The stark reality of the brutal kill-or-be-killed mentality struck home and finally, the righteous of the world began to fight back. From the ashes they gleaned a good lesson. They learned to seek out the evil ones and destroy them. They learned that even in the midst of a simmering sinister doom, there is always, always hope.
The sooner all of society realized that we must stand together, the better. There is hope! In our combined strength we will fight terror with deadly determination and at last put an end to this evil threat... and when we do the world will be a much better place for it.
~~~

Freedom's Light:
A Rob and Tex Adventure

By Robert Saniscalchi

                                                       

"You know what really gets to me the most?" Rob asked, shaking his head. "That flight, the one heading toward DC. Those guys rushed the cockpit and crashed the plane before it hit its intended target. Can you imagine the balls that took, standing to fight even though they knew they were gonna die anyway? That was bravery at its purest form, giving their lives so others could live. I pray for them and for the chance to avenge all the victims of 911...as well as its heroes."
~~~

While certainly a military thriller, it is, perhaps, even more so, a family drama of those in the story who prayed, and were prayed for throughout the times of being "away and in action..."

For Rob, one of the main characters, this time, being away from Ashley, became an important component in his daily memories.  More than ever, he wanted to be back home with her and his family.

September 11 had touched the lives of all Americans and many responded in one way or another...Rob saw a man standing next to an exit ramp holding a flag. "Rob felt the slow, encouraging

beat of those drums as he drove on. He didn't realize it yet, but he was not alone, those same drums of war were slowly beginning to rise among the people...

Those who were gathered there were first shown a video of terrorists somewhere in the Middle East, celebrating, firing their weapons, for the American tragedy. The leaders were all of one accord, to send their Delta forces out...Light Force, codename for their most effective group was led by Lt. Rob Marrino.

There were six members of Light Force, with each having a specific set of skills, but who were also trained to fill in other positions, if needed. This is the story of their  special mission where something had been spotted. Details of what was going on was needed...

Intel was all that was needed... But the mission went well beyond that in the end...Was the Light Force prepared to deal with combat?!?

And stopping...the...next...attack...on America which was in the final stages?!?

The pace of Saniscalchi's "thrillers" are not like many... Instead, his books hone in on the values instilled in the soldiers, the values of a Christian nation, whose foundation when created at the very beginning, was on God's guidance and a desire to love good and fight against evil...Praying all the way through what they were called upon to handle...

Memorial day seemed a good time to share about this book, for surely Light Force's unit did not make it back whole and the bond of each of these brothers affected how they dealt with both the mission...and the losses that came with it... Freedom's Light is an American tale of praying heroes that depend upon God's help against evil. At this time in the world, I found it a welcome true-life story of our American soldiers and their families... Highly recommended...

GABixlerReviews

Robert J Saniscalchi is the Author of Bullets and Bandages, now in 2nd Edition from Amazon/Kindle/Create-Space. His first book has received endorsements from the Vietnam Veterans of America and The Military Writer's Society of America. Robert also is the Author of the 2nd Edition of- My Life For Her, also from Amazon/Kindle Create-Space. Full reviews on his work can be found on Amazon.com. Robert’s third work, his new story -Freedom's Light- is complete, and with a 5 star review on Amazon Kindle. Robert is a member of various writing and reading communities. Robert is a retired Electrician, Author/ Writer and reader of the known/unknown. Robert became interested in writing after he attended English and writing classes at college. He is married and he has a home in Berks County Pa and Winter Springs Fl. Robert loves the great outdoors, reading, writing and working on his cars.

Review: Robert Saniscalchi's Second Book to Come Out - Check out His First!

Bullets and Bandages


Robert Saniscalchi

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. It is quite simply a fictional account of a young man’s tour of duty in Vietnam, based upon true events as told to him by his brother. Because the author did not hold back on either his own fear or the actual events he met, 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. Green’s father asks Rob to tell him about his son and to tell him what they have been involved in so that he might remember his last few years of life.

So Rob starts to talk . . .

When there is a war going on, if you are the right age, all of your friends are talking about whether to “join up.” Or so it was at the time of the Vietnam War. Rob Marrino’s friends were joining; he needed only the courage to talk with his parents about it. 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. What that decision resulted in was that he became “special” to his unit. Everybody knew that it was important to make sure “Doc” was ok, because their own lives could actually be in his hands. 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. The readers don’t know. What we do know is that he prayed continuously. He prayed for the courage and strength to ignore his shaking hands and get on with wiping the blood from a soldier’s wound to see how bad it was, to give him a quick shot of morphine to ease the pain. He prayed for each soldier he helped and for those who didn’t make it. 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. 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.

This book is very graphic in the war scenes--parental guidance material! 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 a 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. I am proud to have had an opportunity to read this unforgettable story.

G. A. Bixler

For Independent Professional Reviewers