POST BELLUM BLUES

The Irish author of this fictionalized autobiography enlisted in the U.S. Army through the American Consul in Cork, Ireland, Just after WWII. Only eighteen, he was sent to Germany where booze, the wild, wild frauleins and his natural insolence soon landed him in a series of military prisons. His first court martial netted him-six months, during which he dehydrated. But he was soon drinking again and next drew a three-year term, for insulting an officer, attacking a non-com, etc. In prison he seems to have been a fairly model prisoner. We follow him through his transfers through German prisons, until he serves the last of his term Stateside. The day of his release held a bitter blow. Immigration authorities arrested him at the prison gate, and long months followed until he was deported back to Ireland-in a ship's brig. The prison types he encountered are not memorable but his personal story is compelling. The writing is clear, the accent human rather than expose.