Chapter One

About the Book

Vic Charles is the typical American father.  He has a normal 8-5 job, drives a modest car and has a wife and two children.  Life is good and it has become even better since the successful completion and sale of his first novel.  A story which took 20 years to start has become the “Bible” for the Vietnam Veteran.  So, as not to lose his touch, he has commenced writing his second winner.  But, something is holding him back, something is preventing him from completing “Chapter One” The flashbacks that he had experienced when he first returned from Nam, the chills, the twitches,visions of his dead buddies have all returned to haunt him.

He sees his friends, he has vivid dreams of the war and his part in the killing.  He relives the good times and the bad.  He is taken back to see his friends killed because of the cowardice of others.  He relives and recounts a time that he thought had passed him by and left him alone.  He is haunted by the fact that he had never said “good-bye” to his buddies who were killed in the war.

Vic attempts to be a fundamental part of the quest to demonstrate the reality of PTSD.  He visits Veteran’s hospitals in an attempt to learn more of the problem which has been written off by most Americans as a attempt by the Vietnam Vet to pilfer more money from the US government for something that was most likely caused by drug overdoses in the Southeast Asian Country.  Vic wants to prove all of that wrong as well as to prove the worth of the Vet as an upstanding citizen and worker.

Vic Charles is ready to get out of Chapter One  but will the past allow it.  He regresses to his drinking days as the bottle once again becomes his comfort.  He is called to the Memorial in Washington by a host of friends whose names are emblazoned on that shiny black wall of “fame”  His final trip to the Wall may be his undoing as he speeds towards the Nation’s Capital in his newly purchased convertible.  

Vic Charles still has a story in him.  His death could possibly cause that story to be buried with him.  Only Vic can turn his life around at this point as he lay dying in that hospital bed.  But does he really want to…

About the Author

Bob Staranowicz, born in Philadelphia, served with the 101st Airborne in Vietnam. He is a graduate of LaSalle University and has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. The author writes part time, his daytime job is in the Information Technology field. He lives in a modest home in Bucks County with his wife and daughter. His older daughter is in the Pharmaceutical industry and also lives in Bucks County.