Dog Company Six
The press that discovered Tom Clancy  and has integrated just a few other novelists into its mainly nonfiction list over the years now offers an excellent debut novel about the Korean War . The author is a Marine combat veteran of that largely forgotten conflict, and this tale could easily be autobiographical (although he claims it isn't); it was written just after the war and then filed away in Simmons's attic for nearly 50 years. The simple story of Marines at war follows Capt. George Bayard as he commands a Marine infantry company of Pacific War vets and new recruits in 1950-1951. Simmons avoids any geopolitical discussions of the war, and instead focuses on Bayard and the men of Dog Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Division, and the grueling ordeal they face in close combat with the North Koreans and Red Chinese. Bayard is a new company commander, an unknown quantity who must prove himself to his men, especially the WWII combat-tested lieutenants and sergeants. From the surprise amphibious landing at Inchon through the horrific street fighting in Seoul, and on to the frozen wasteland of the Chosin Reservoir winter campaign, Bayard learns a lot about himself and his ability as a leader. His education, however, comes at a grim price, particularly when his company is nearly wiped out defending a snowy mountain pass in sub-zero weather and legendary battalion commander Lt. Col. "Red Snapper" Quillan must come to their aid. Simmons writes with the salty authority of a man who has seen war, providing a convincing and graphic foxhole level view of the infantryman's fight with rifle, grenade and bayonet. This will be a hit with fans of military history, but Simmons's frequent use of unexplained Marine Corps jargon and acronyms may leave civilian readers in the cold. 15,000 first printing. (May) for 24 years.Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.