Private Cummings

“… an engaging portrait of two lives filled with human longing and the costs of being different.”
—BlueInk Review

A man and a boy whose lives unexpectedly connect are impacted in improbable ways.

Private Hank Cummings didn’t ask for the fate that befell him during his service in WWII. Saving the lives of three men from the burning wreckage of a B-29 left him a hero, albeit scarred and disabled. But when his personal secret was revealed, he recoiled into a life of seclusion and solitude for much of his adulthood.

Never losing his spirit and will to endure, he persevered through his hardships, finding the determination to live a full and prosperous life. His humility caused him to resist the hero’s legacy he so richly deserved and would posthumously receive.

Thirty years after a chance meeting with an inquisitive thirteen-year-old boy, the two reunite in Hank’s final days, mending tragedy and suffering into self-discovery, peace, and purpose for both.

“…an evolving friendship between a boy and a man… a sense of tragedy that morphs into heroism and love, at the end.”
—Midwest Book Review