Beyond the Red Hills: Three American Families —1945-1968

Finalist 2022 Word Awards - Contemporary Short FictionThree American Families 1945-1968Three friends return from the war in the Pacific to rebuild their lives ...They find jobs, meet and date young women, fall in love, marry and raise children.But they discover the rebuilding of their lives will take more than that.They discover it will take a lifetime.In "Black Sand," all three men struggle with what was called shell shock in the First World War, combat fatigue in the Second, and now known as PTSD. And without the love of God or the women in their lives, there is no recovery or redemption."Telemachus" has Johnny Strange facing his greatest fear-his beautiful son will go to war, as Johnny went to war, and he can only sit helplessly at home and pray the boy he loves so much will return from Vietnam alive.All these and others are the stories of three families that began, grew, loved and fought in the generation that spanned the years between 1945 and 1968.They are also the stories of America.