Scars of Freedom Backstories

This is a collection of short stories and backstories for my work-in-progress war novel, Scars of Freedom. Here, you'll find out more about the main characters of Scars of Freedom, and what keeps their humanity alive in the face of war.

Judgement: This is the backstory for my work-in-progress war novel, Scars of Freedom, and follows one of the main characters Lawrence Belitz as he navigates his childhood in the Lower East Side, NYC, as an illegitimate child.

Fitting In: Ben O'Malley has always been different but he's never understood what that actually means. He is talkative and longs for genuine connection, but this 'code of brotherhood' evident to other guys has never made sense to him. This is the story of him learning that there is a place for him in this world.

Scars of Freedom: It is 1943 and the world is engulfed in flames. Driven, passionate, and idealistically patriotic, 17-year-old Lawrie Belitz is not just an outcast but a promising, talented writer living in Manhattan. Tired of being seen as a loser and eager to take up arms to serve his country, he and his friends Ben O'Malley and Stan Carter join the U.S. Army together.

PFCs Evan Levy, John Fortier, Sam the medic, Lt. Artie Woods, Sergeant Walker, as well as Lawrie and his pals Ben and Stan, become the members of 1st Squad, 1st Platoon, Able Company. Lawrie, once outcast and bullied, proves himself to be a capable soldier and leader, earning him respect in Able Company.

Soon enough, Lawrie and his squad embark on what is now known as D-Day and they see the brutality unfold on Omaha Beach. As he and his fellow soldiers push deeper into Nazi-occupied Normandy, he soon begins to long for the ease of youthfulness. He fights not only to protect freedom as he knows it, but to preserve what's left of his humanity.