Tulagi
by
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The sun beat down oppressively upon the edge of the marsh which wound its way endlessly through the nearly eight square miles of wet lands in "Down East" North Carolina. The reeds were alive with the hum of untold multitudes of insects, raising such a cacophony that it blended into a single high pitched sound that became a part of the landscape. The intense heat, combined with the cloying humidity, ordained that nothing move. Breathing was so labored that no creature could stir without great force of will. Below the water's surface a large blue crab cautiously moved out of the shadow of the reeds to explore a scent he had detected sluggishly diffusing through his watery world. It was something dead, something which had but recently experienced life; but now in this great fermenting, simmering cauldron was being returned to its elemental parts. He hurried forward to claim a share before decomposition and other life forms reduced it to nothingness. There it was! A saffron yellow skull with attached wisps of long white hair gently undulating in the sluggish current was before him. 'The eyes were open, the lips drawn back, creating a look of surprise on the decaying features. The crab went to work tearing off thin strips from the lips and eyes, which have been considered a special delicacy by his species for aeons. In his eating frenzy he failed to respond to the almost imperceptible shock waves being transmitted through the water, heralding impending danger. Suddenly, a shadow was cast upon him and his meal. Instantly, he raised his claws in a defensive posture and retreated hastily back into the protective shadows of the reeds. Dr. John Lowery sat on the thwart of his small dinghy, facing forward, slowly rowing into the marsh. Looking from side to side, his crumpled canvas hat shading his pale blue eyes, he searched for the nest of a Marsh Wren he had heard singing in the reeds.
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About the Book
From the beaches of Guadalcanal, United States Marines could look North towards a tiny island 29 miles away. It was Tulagi, the protective flank for the American fighting forces pitted against the Japanese. Between these two islands were fought some of the bloodiest and most costly naval battles of World War II. In October of 1942, a naval skirmish occurred which changed the life of John Lowery forever. The story begins 30 years after the war. On his boat, Tulagi, John keeps retreating to the steaming heat of the marshes of "Down East" North Carolina. There, he repeatedly agonizes over an act of cowardice that he committed one black night while under attack in the "slot." On one of these expeditions, he is brutally brought back to reality when he discovers the decomposing corpse of a murdered man. With the aid of three friends (the "Committee"), John sets out to solve the murder. While not far from where John lives, another man is also struggling with his conscience. He is Rached Bussman, a brilliant black defense lawyer, who works for the "Cartel." These are the South American drug lords who control the flow of drugs into the Mideastern states through the marshy coastal lands of North Carolina. Inexorably, these two men are driven toward each other. Each finds himself struggling to protect the ones he loves from evil and crazed Colonel Sutter and his murderous henchman, Ghent. The story is set in the locale of the Neuse River, where I live. It is fiction, based in part on real events and folklore. The character of each individual is real. Their names have been changed; their true identities are only thinly veiled. This book represents, in no small way, my perception of America and its people. The men who make up the "Committee" have been friends or patients of mine over a period of 31 years of medical practice. The Marine on Guadalcanal was Marlin Ritzel. His name was not changed. He did survive the war.
About the Author
John J. Bennett was born in West Virginia during the Great Depression. Out of this background his character was molded on the concepts of God, Country, and Honor. He attended Marshall College in Huntington, West Virginia, and then went on to join the United States Navy where he served for four years. At the end of his service career, he attended medical school at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Bennett married Dixie Lemmon in 1951. They have four children and six grandchildren. For the last 22 years they have lived in New Bern, North Carolina. Here he has continued his passion for sailing on the Neuse River and its tributaries. The idea for the book arose one night when he observed a trawler anchored near the far shore in front of his house. A large, fast speedboat came alongside, and for the next thirty minutes cargo was transferred from one boat to the other. Could this have been a movement of drugs? It brought back memories of a trawler captured smuggling marijuana into the area from a seagoing mother ship a few years before. Local readers will find characters and events that closely parallel real life events which occurred during the early seventies here in the marshes and rivers of "Down East" Carolina.