Soldier Boy

Soldier Boy details the epic story of an immigrant family's journey from Russia to America, arriving in the early twentieth century. Born in 1932, Ben is raised on the tough streets of Philadelphia, surrounded by a motley collection of WWI veterans, gangsters, refugees, and his large extended family. After graduating high school, Ben leaves home to pursue a life of promise and adventure in the US Navy, attending universities in the South via the Reserve Officer Training Corps. He witnesses racism and religious intolerance, along with Elvis Presley's doomed concert in Atlanta. Operations take him to Europe, the Americas, and the Caribbean, where he parties in Havana on New Year's Eve as Castro takes over the island nation. Stationed in the Panama Canal Zone, Ben leads the South American end of the Finance Aviation Office for the US Navy's Atlantic Fleet. Directed by President Eisenhower, he and his superiors employ clandestine techniques to support actions against Communists in South America. The Kameradenwerk, an organization that protects and finances Nazi/German businesses in Argentina, eventually fund these operations as US financial contributions cease. He receives special combat training and is personally involved in many top-secret missions. As Ben advances from Midshipman to Lieutenant Commander, he gradually realizes that what is asked of him threatens to destroy all he really cares about, his family and his morals. He refuses to participate in further assignments after innocent victims are killed, becomes mentally distraught, and is transferred to Washington DC. After his discharge, he joins the MLK Freedom March, listening to the famous speech on August 28, 1963. His search for inner peace finally begins.