SOLDIER OF FORTUNE, WITNESS OF FATE...

Yesterday was the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. I haven't read or watched any fresh material on the subject in quite some time, which is why I didn't blog about it. But that event was a turning point in history I doubt many people today appreciate.

The war with Japan was a catalyst which led to a change in warfare, and the world as a whole. Even after the Cold War ended, the paradigm shift has not yet been overturned. The major players on the global scene are still pushing their own agendas via proxy wars, when necessary. So I'm featuring a book written by someone who was there in the midst of some of those proxy wars: The Devil's Secret Name, now available as an e-book.

I've reviewed some of Morris's other books here on the Two-Fisted Blog before and, long story short, they are all good reads that just might educate you a bit if you're not careful.

A highly decorated Green Beret commander and acclaimed military writer, Jim Morris spent his post-Vietnam years as a journalist on assignment in the world’s most dangerous battle zones. Armed only with a reporter’s eye and a soldier’s heart, he covered the Third World conflicts that served to forge a post-Cold War world, shaping both lasting peace and sowing the seeds of global terrorism. An embedded journalist, years before the term was coined, he bore witness to the fierce realities and uncertain outcomes of guerrilla warfare.

From the jungles of Southeast Asia to the shattered peace of the Middle East and the violent twilight world of El Salvador, here are the frontline dispatches of a veteran reporter and seasoned solider. Inevitably the only reporter on the scene, Morris chronicles more than combat shrouded in the fog of war. Living among the soldiers, his remarkable battlefield reports capture the extraordinary courage, unwavering faith, and the dark humor common to all combat troops.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jim Morris served three tours with Special Forces (The Green Berets) in Vietnam. The second and third were cut short by serious wounds. He retired of wounds as a major. He has maintained his interest in the mountain peoples of Vietnam with whom he fought, and has been, for many years, a refugee and civil rights activist on their behalf.

His Vietnam memoir War Story won the first Bernal Diaz Award for military non-fiction. Morris is author of the story from which the film Operation Dumbo Drop was made, and has produced numerous documentary television episodes about the Vietnam War. He is author of three books of non-fiction and four novels. He has appeared on MSNBC as a commentator on Special Operations.