COMBAT
BOOK VII: BEHIND THE LINES
BOOK VIII: IN DANGER’S PATH
BOOK IX: UNDER FIRE
BOOK X: RETREAT, HELL!
BADGE OF HONOR
BOOK I: MEN IN BLUE
BOOK II: SPECIAL OPERATIONS
BOOK III: THE VICTIM
BOOK IV: THE WITNESS
BOOK V: THE ASSASSIN
BOOK VI: THE MURDERERS
BOOK VII: THE INVESTIGATORS
BOOK VIII: FINAL JUSTICE
MEN AT WAR
BOOK I: THE LAST HEROES
BOOK II: THE SECRET WARRIORS
BOOK III: THE SOLDIER SPIES
BOOK IV: THE FIGHTING AGENTS
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For Uncle Charley and The Bull
RIP October 1979
And for Donn Who would have ever believed four stars?
And for Russ Who would have ever believed Pee-Wee’s Dog Robber would grow up to be a major general, a division commander, and a university president?
And for Mac RIP December 1987
And for All Those Special Operations Types Who Laid Their Lives on the Line To Keep Africa and South America Free of the Communists
I
[ ONE ]
TOP SECRET
THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF WASHINGTON, D.C.
Duplication Forbidden Copy 4 of Seven.
For Distribution By Officer Courier Only
8 November 1964
Commanding General, United States Strike
Command
Commanding General, European Command
Commanding General, United States Air
Force, Europe
Commanding General, Seventh United States
Army1. By Direction of the President; by Command of His Royal Highness, the King of the Belgians; and at the request of the government of the Republic of the Congo, a Joint Belgian-American Operation, “OPERATION DRAGON ROUGE,” will take whatever military action is necessary to effect the rescue of American, Belgian and other European nationals currently being held hostage in Stanleyville, Republic of the Congo, by forces in rebellion against the legal and duly constituted government of the Republic of the Congo.
2. By Direction of the President, Counselor to the President Sanford T. Felter (Colonel, General Staff Corps, USA) is designated Action Officer, and will be presumed, in connection to military matters, to be speaking with the authority of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
3. OPERATION DRAGON ROUGE is assigned an AAAA-1 Priority with regard to the requisitioning of personnel, equipment, and other U.S. military assets.
4. Addressees will on receipt of this directive immediately dispatch an officer in the grade of colonel or higher to the United States Embassy, Brussels, Belgium, where they will make themselves available to Colonel Felter or such officers as he may designate to represent him.
FOR THE CHAIRMAN, THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF:
Forbes T. Willis
FORBES T. WILLIS
BRIGADIER GENERAL, USMC
EXECUTIVE OFFICER, JCS
TOP SECRET
[ TWO ]
Brussels, Belgium
1320 11 November 1964
Brigadier General Harris McCord, USAF, thought he had yet another proof, if one were needed, that life was full of little ironies. Sixteen hours before, he had been at the USMC Birthday Ball at the Hotel Continental in Paris, tripping the light fantastic with his wife. He had been wearing his mess dress uniform, complete with real medals rather than ribbons,