The Old Army Game: A Novel and Stories
by George Garrett
Category: Fiction

This volume pairs Garrett's novel Which Ones Are the Enemy? with nine other stories of military life, including two previously uncollected works, "Crowfoot" and "Heroes." Which Ones Are the Enemy? (first published in 1961) charts the transformation of Pvt. John Riche, an artilleryman attached to the Trieste United States Troops after the Korean War, from philandering to commitment. A cynic and an operator who diverts U.S. supplies into the European black market to finance an apartment for his mistress, Riche plans to love then leave Angela, the beautiful B-girl who had at first scorned him. As the novel progresses, the two unlikely lovers come to care for each other, and Riche's lucrative but dangerous schemes entrap them, setting up an inexorable chain of bitter events. The second part of this volume consists of stories stemming from Garrett's service experiences in Europe at the end of the Korean War, though the particular characters and situations reflect the pain, bewilderment, and loss common to all wars.