Smokejumpers-Heroes in a covert war

Idaho smokejumpers

Based on extensive research-a tribute to brave men who achieved the impossible

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 cargo planes and other aircraft. 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. 

The C-46- workhorse  

"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

Kickers-a Novel of the Secret War
tells America the story and 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. 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.

Hmong Fighters-Laos

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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.        

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“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