MURPHY HIGHEAGLE, Paratrooper

by William Chamberlain ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 25, 1966

Shouldn't wonder if somebody didn't have a fit when this Indian boy shows up, wearing wings and an Air Corps cap, and tells them he's come to fight the dogface war."" So muses Murphy Higheagle; grandson of Chief Benbow of the Cherokees, lately Air Corps pilot, when he arrives to command a detail of paratroopers in the Normandy invasion. Using all the old tricks Grandpappy once used on the palefaces, Murphy subs for a dead pilot; captures a German general (""all generals look mean""); charms a petulant French girl ""pretty as a little heifer;"" ambushes the German on a narrow road (like they did ""at a place called Thermopylae""); and sends smoke signals to an American plane from a burning ammunition dump. At the end, he establishes an observation post in the clock tower of an occupied French town, or, in his own words, ""this Indian boy's right in the middle of a paleface fort."" The whole thing might have been better in sign language.

Pub Date: Oct. 25, 1966

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: John Day

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1966

Categories: FICTION