By JOSEPH KELLARD
About a third of this fictional tale is peppered with tales of Hynes's life and his personal thoughts, from his near-death experiences on European battlefields to his post-war psychological struggles that, to some extent, he still faces today.
"While I'm reading the book, I know it's a fictional story, but then there comes a moment in it that is about something I actually lived through," said Hynes. "I'm reading it slowly because I just don't want to have those memories all day long."
Published by St. Martin's Press, "Echoes From The Infantry" centers on James McCleary, a foot soldier in the 95th Infantry Division during history's most destructive war, and his son, John, who grows up perplexed by his father, particularly his inability to open up to his wife and three sons. "I don't think I can remember one time when I saw him laugh," one of McCleary's boys tells his wife, Maddie. The puzzle that is their father isn't pieced together until James is widowed in old age and John, while clearing out his parents' attic, finds letters his father wrote in his youth.
"These give John a window into what his father's life was like as a soldier, and also things like what it was like for him to fall in love with his mother," Nappi explained.
The novel features a series of flashbacks of Hynes's war experiences, and his difficulties in returning to civilian life and reconciling past demons. These include the atrocities of war that Hynes witnessed, and his being wounded, hospitalized and ultimately thrown into a German prison camp after fighting in the Battle of the Bulge.
"Society asks him to take on its conventions -- husband and father --but then he has this whole other life in his head that he has to deal with," Nappi said about the Hynes-based McCleary character.
"Echoes From The Infantry" includes the stories of the late Bill McGinn of Farmingdale, who, along with Hynes, his close war buddy, began visiting Nappi's sophomore literature class to talk to students about their war experiences about 12 years ago. Their yearly visits coincided with Nappi assigning his students war-related novels, such as "All Quiet on the Western Front."
"They held the floor with the kids like I had never seen before," Nappi recalled. "They were taken by the genuine nature of these men. Before this, my students had learned about the war, but it was an abstraction to them. When they saw how emotional these men got while talking about the war, that really hit them."
Finding the students attentive and kindly, Hynes and McGinn not only returned each year to give their talk, but forged correspondences with some of Nappi's students. These were the students who wrote letters to the veterans, telling them how affected they were by their stories, particularly since their grandfathers who fought in World War II also never spoke about their experiences. They expressed their appreciation to Hynes and McGinn for opening up.
When McGinn died in 2001 and Hynes struggled to deal with the deaths of more of his war buddies, Nappi began taking notes on the tales both men told in his class over the years. He also carried on a correspondence with Hynes to learn more about his life.
For 50 years, Hynes rarely talked about his war experiences to anyone. He broke his silence after he attended a therapy session for prisoners of war at the Veterans Association in Northport in the early 1990s. Hynes found that it felt good to talk about the demons he'd kept bottled up for years. Still, at times, he has some difficulties dealing with them. The latest experience came while he read the early chapters of "Echoes From The Infantry."
"I pushed those thoughts away for years, and occasionally I would talk about it," Hynes said. "But when I think too much about it, I find that I'm back there again."
From his notes, Nappi transformed Hynes's thoughts and his past into short stories, and after numerous publishers rejected them, St. Martin's showed an interest in 2003. At the publisher's suggestion, however, Nappi knitted the stories together into a novel. St. Martin's Press wanted "Echoes from the Infantry" to come out in 2005, to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. About 3,000 first editions will be available Nov. 1, just before Veterans Day. The book has already received favorable reviews from both Kirkus Reviews and Father Tom Hartman, host of the cable television show "The God Squad."
Nappi has modest expectations for his first novel, but said he "hopes it will be read, because it has a lot of value for veterans and non-veterans alike -- that is, that there is hope for redemption in our lives." Nappi described seeing his first book in print as "surreal but exciting," and he has a new book in the works, one that centers on a teenager who reflects on past experiences, and which includes components of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Meanwhile, Hynes continues to read his advance copy of the 18-chapter "Echoes From The Infantry" in deliberate stop-and-go fashion. "Reading about myself is interesting, and I'll get through it," he concluded. "I'm sure by the time I do finish it, I'll calm down a bit."
Nappi will sign copies of "Echoes From The Infantry" at Chapter One Books, 3185 Long Beach Road in Oceanside, on Nov. 26 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and at Barnes & Noble, 5224 Sunrise Highway in Massapequa, on Dec. 10 from 1 to 3 p.m. For information about the author and his novel, visit his Web site, www.franknappi.com.
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
