Overview

In the spring of 1967, Hal Patsin receives his draft notice as the Vietnam War escalates. He plans to register as a conscientious objector - until his father says, "I've never asked for anything, Patty, but now I ask this: Serve your country." Determined not to fire his weapon, Patty becomes a first line grunt and is sent to a combat zone during the Tet Offensive. Nothing has prepared him for the reality of the missions ahead with his unit or the friends he would make in the heat of battle - Mac, Italy, Doc, and Timmy. Patty's ideals are peeled away as he becomes a soldier intent on survival and on protecting the men of his unit. REACHING presents the horror and absurdity of war in direct, intense prose. The characters spring to life, each with flaws. Humor and tragedy shape the transformation of all. "REACHING is a compelling soldier's tale that reads as true as a memoir. Dorfman deftly captures the brutality of war, the essence of the times, and the moral struggle America faced both on an individual and a collective level. I dare you to read this and not be moved!" -Frank Zafiro, author of the River City novels