A DIRTY DISTANT WAR

by E.M. Nathanson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 16, 1987

A few of The Dirty Dozen return to do battle against the Japanese in Indochina during WW II, but spend most of their time fighting the allied Chinese and French. Ho Chi Minh appears in a supporting role. Major John Reisman, the intelligence officer who led The Dirty Dozen on their mission in Nazi-occupied France, drops into Burma by parachute to put a lid on the anti-Chinese activities of his Captain Linc Bradford. Bradford has been leading a band of Kachins, Burmese mountaineers, in their guerrilla missions against the Japanese. But the perfidious soldiers of the Chinese Kuomintang, America's allies, have inflicted more wounds on the Kachins than have the Japanese, and Bradford has been taking retribution. Reisman, under orders to stop the raids on the Chinese, quickly sees the light, and when Bradford is killed in battle, carries on Bradford's mission. After an attack by villains in an unmarked American-made plane, Reisman is taken to China, where he finds the Americans have completely capitulated to the will of the Chinese warlords. He is sent out of the country to encourage the Indochinese to stir up some action against the Japanese clown south, thereby taking some of the heat off Chiang Kai-Shek and the Chinese. Who do you suppose is Reisman's guide to Viet Nam? Of course. Uncle Ho. There are probably thousands of wonderful, untold tales about Southeast Asia during WW II. This stiff and overlong treatment does them little justice.

Pub Date: Sept. 16, 1987

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1987

Categories: FICTION