Ray Fuentez

Don't Tell Me Ray Fuentez

In May, 1966, a promising future awaits Hospital Corpsman Ruben Flores as he approaches graduation from The University of Texas and the coveted transition from the enlisted ranks to an officer's commission in the US Navy until a chance sighting of his wife Nancy in the arms of Ruben's best friend spirals his life out of control. Fear of losing Nancy results in a failing grade on a final exam, terminates his career plans, and all but guarantees a fast-track deployment to Vietnam. A fellow petty officer's involvement with dealing drugs gets the man killed, dumps his six-month-old baby girl into Ruben and Nancy's care, and puts the three of them in the crosshairs of a cartel's minions. Orders to join a Marine combat unit in South Vietnam force him to leave Nancy and the baby for a one-year tour, brutally shortened by life-threatening wounds when Ruben heroically rescues his best friend from a downed, burning helicopter. Don't Tell Me is a story of compounding errors and misunderstandings whose disastrous consequences can be overcome only by those who are truly in love forever