Exit the Bronx

Coming of Age in the Mid 60s During the Vietnam War

The year is 1966. Bob Sievers is drafted into the U.S. Army during the height of the Vietnam war and the social unrest that swept the globe during the mid-1960s. Unworldly, Bob leaves his family for the first time, and is catapulted to Heidelberg Germany, the Headquarters of U.S. Army, Europe. During two years of new experiences, Bob has a series of exciting international adventures. Then he and his friends visit East Berlin, going through the Soviet Union’s Iron Curtain by walking across Checkpoint Charlie. There, they experience the dark reality of the Cold War. They see the emptiness of East Berlin. Afterwards, with a sense of unease, they leave the East, recrossing Checkpoint Charlie to return to West Berlin. After this remarkable journey of discovery, he returns to the Bronx no longer the same person. Bob then has to quickly decide where his future lies.

To learn more, or to purchase “Exit the Bronx”, click the link below to go to the Amazon page.

                https://www.amazon.com/dp/057journey of discovery3251/ref=sr_1_1

Press Release – June 28, 2022

Exit the Bronx: Coming of Age in the Mid 60s During the Vietnam War, a new novel by Barry Singer, has been released.

The year is 1966. Bob Sievers is drafted into the U.S. Army during the height of the Vietnam war and the social unrest that swept the globe during the mid-1960s. Unworldly, Bob leaves his family for the first time and is catapulted to Heidelberg, Germany, the Headquarters of U.S. Army, Europe. During two years of new experiences, Bob has a series of exciting international adventures.  Then he and his friends visit East Berlin, going through the Soviet Union’s Iron Curtain by walking across Checkpoint Charlie. There, they experience the dark reality of the Cold War.  They see the emptiness of East Berlin.  Afterwards, with a sense of unease, they leave the East, recrossing Checkpoint Charlie to return to West Berlin. After this remarkable journey of discovery, he returns to the Bronx no longer the same person. Bob then has to quickly decide where his future lies.

Barry Singer grew up in the Bronx, N.Y., U.S.A.  He has studied economics and military history, and served in the U.S. Army in Heidelberg, Germany in the mid 1960s.  He currently lives in Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.A. where he lectures on the American Revolutionary War, and leads tours of this intriguing historic town.

Exit the Bronx: Coming of Age in the Mid 60s During the Vietnam War is a 283-page paperback with a retail price of $11.99 (eBook $2.99).  The ISBN is 978-0-578-31325-2.  It was published January 31, 2022 and is available for purchase at Amazon.com.

 Readers’ Comments: “Very well written story”, “I’m the same age. I didn’t go into the service and always wondered what it would be like” “It reminded me of my own experience traveling away from home and returning grown up” “The cover made me want to read it”

“For anyone who grew up in the Bronx” “For anyone who served in the armed forces in Europe after WWII and experienced the Cold War and the Iron Curtain.” “For anyone who came of age in the socially turbulent 1960s”

For members of the press, to request a review copy, visit www.barrysinger.co/contact or email: SingerHistoryAdventures@gmail.com, or telephone us at 609-577-2000.

Excerpts

 HSSSS… The sound of the bus door opening and closing was like the sound of air escaping from an overfilled balloon. The great hissing noise continued until all thirty-five young men were aboard and ready to take the leap into the unknown. The New York Port Authority Bus Terminal was a spaceport, catapulting these young men to a new and uncertain life. Bob Sievers sat in row 12, happy to have a window seat. The big Greyhound slid out of the terminal, rushed through the Lincoln Tunnel, and traveled south past the oil refineries of New Jersey, en route to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, to deliver its cargo of fresh recruits. These thirty-five young men were about to begin a new and uncertain life in the U.S. Army, their cycle of basic training scheduled by the great military machine to begin the next day.

The bright, multicolored scene of the summer was gone. The Neckar was calm but gray. The copper-colored rooftops were now white. It was a gray and white day. An overhanging mist limited visibility, turning Heidelberg into a Christmas card come to life. Snowflakes drifted lower in the sky and settled on roofs, lampposts, and people’s faces. The roadway of the old bridge was covered with snow, looking almost white, while the sides kept their brown color.