Smokejumpers-Heroes in a covert war
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| Idaho smokejumpers |
Based on extensive research-a tribute to a select group of Americans who achieved the impossible
Kickers...a Novel of the Secret war
The CIA recruited them, three U.S. presidents pretended they didn´t exist while the North Vietnamese hated them passionately for their skilled teamwork with the fierce Hmong mountain fighters whom they ably supplied with sturdy C-46 & STOL Porter Pilatus P-6 cargo planes and other aircraft.
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| C-46 workhorse |
For 13 years smoke jumpers from states like Idaho and Montana became covert CIA operatives and carried out an endless string of dangerous air drops and wild missions in Laos during one of America´s most effective yet ultimately doomed counter-insurgencies against the communists in conditions of extreme weather, limited visibility and tiny airstrips.
"Rich detail and ...dialogue, ...take the reader from Idaho forests and CIA training camps to the exotic jungles and cities of Southeast Asia." I. Purdy
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| Long Tieng-Laos-prime staging area for Kicker missions |
Kickers-a Novel of the Secret War
By Patrick Lee
A book that gives voice to this select group of gutsy 93 odd men-nine of whom died-who were sought out by the CIA for their daring and resourcefulness honed by jumping into forest fires they fought in Idaho, Montana and other states.
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| A P-6 Porter Pilatus in Laos |
On a daily basis they air dropped or quick landed munitions, food, supplies, medical assistance, fighters and picked up human remains to deliver to families.They were the logistical back bone of a clandestine operation to keep Hmong soldiers in fighting shape to harass and kill North Vietnamese & Pathet Lao communists troops hell bent on delivering war materiel and supplies to their units in South Vietnam.
Thanks to his extensive research, first hand knowledge of the smoke jumping profession and his skilled use of the novel genre, Patrick Lee has rendered a moving tribute to men who achieved great objectives on a little known "hot" front of the Cold War.
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| Hmong Fighters |
Interview Opportunity-Call OcasoMedia-305-396-2806
ocasomedia@gmail.com
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| Patrick Lee |
About the author:
Patrick Lee is a former smokejumper who made twenty-five parachute jumps into the Idaho Primitive Area fighting forest fires. Later while in law school at Georgetown University, Lee began to hear of smokejumper deaths in Laos, including those of men who had been his jump partners. Interviews of surviving smokejumpers about their CIA experiences in Laos convinced Lee their stories needed to be told. He incorporated core elements of their recollections in Kickers.
In 2012, based on his Kickers manuscript, he was awarded a writer's residency by the Jentel Artist Residency Program. He is a member of The Cabin, a literary center for Idaho, a member of the professional writers roster of the Idaho Writers Guild, a member of the National Smokejumpers Association, a former member of the Board of Editors of the Georgetown Law Journal, and a founding partner of the international law firm, Crowell & Moring. After forty-five years of practicing law in Washington, D.C., Lee now lives and writes on a ranch in the Sawtooth Mountains of central Idaho with his wife Janis.
“Kickers” is available for purchase at AMAZON http://www.kickersthenovel.com/
In praise of KICKERS:
“Kickers" is a must read for all of us "Baby Boomers", offsprings, and others affected by the Vietnam Era.” Stephen Levin
"...beautifully wrought prose, full of humor and heartbreaking insights into the inner world of young men"..... I. Purdy
Interview Opportunity-Call OcasoMedia-305-396-2806 ocasomedia@gmail.com
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