Mike McLaughlin writes fiction and nonfiction His short stories have appeared in The Wrath Bearing Tree October Hill and The Metaworker His historical features have run in American Veteran WWII History and American Heritage He is a graduate of Fairfield University with a degree in English writing Mike lives in Boston an excellent place for any writer to keep a low profile and get real work done.

The War You've Always Wanted By Mike McLaughlin

9798888243374

English

252

Paperback

Pat Dolan s father has a box In it are treasures from Jimmy Dolan s service in World War II his photos his medals his memories But ten year old Pat can t understand why his father refuses to look in the box After all the war was a grand adventure wasn t it Determined to serve in the Army like his father Pat enlists nine years later but it s 1972 and the American military is withdrawing from Vietnam after seven years of futile combat As an Army combat correspondent surrounded by people growing desperate by the day young Dolan quickly learns how bleak the South s prospects are He is forced to witness the slow steady death of a nation When Pat is wounded in action he wonders if he will live long enough to fill a box of his own Are there any treasures to be found in a country as fragile as this The War You ve Always Wanted.