Guerrilla!
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
The navy men dashed for the road on the dead run, their grenade bags banging against their ribs. They could still hear fire from Buchman's team as they dove for the deep drainage ditch alongside the road. With weapons loaded and ready at their side, they spread out ten feet apart and took grenades from their packs. Loren heard the sound of a laboring truck engine and then the truck came into view on the road.
"Get the Japs on the trucks!” he whispered hoarsely. “Don't let a single one get off into the jungle!" The truck lurched toward them. The troops riding in the bed were in obvious disarray. Loren was first to throw his grenade. It blew up under the vehicle, setting it on fire. He leveled his Thompson at the truck bed and pulled the trigger. He saw the Japanese troops go down before his fire. The troop truck, struck by additional grenades, careened off the road and turned on its side. Another grenade landed in the truck bed and exploded.
The second truck was upon them, traveling at high speed. Loren's next grenade went into its bed. Fire from down the line hit the truck's cab, shattering the windshield, while another grenade blew off the front wheel. The truck ground slowly to a stop, repeatedly rocked by the explosions of grenades thrown from the ditch. Nothing moved. Loren raked the truck bed of the second truck with machine gun fire. They heard cries of agony and then there was silence. A fire burned in the engine compartment, which triggered a large explosion as it reached the gasoline. A quick examination revealed no survivors. Just as well, Loren thought. They would have had to die anyway.
Then Buchman's fire team sprinted up to them on the road. Don looked at the carnage around them and then turned to Loren. "We got the other truck. Two casualties, fatal." Loren looked down the line in the drainage ditch. Ron Vanolli lay peacefully on his back, with a bullet hole in his forehead. One of Dave's crew lay just beyond him.
"We have to evacuate. Get your gear and we'll start down the trail to the fishing village.” As they sprinted back, the sun was setting behind the mountains.
Loren saw Ramon with his weapon at the ready as they entered and went to him. "Ramon, we have to let Tomi know what has happened."
"I will go to her now."
"It will be very dangerous. They will be coming in force up that road!"
"I can avoid them." They stood looking at one another for a moment. Then they threw their arms around each other and hugged.
"Best of luck, Ramon."
"Go with God, Loren." He disappeared into the shadows.
Loren turned and scanned the village. The villagers and the navy contingent had apparently departed. He did a cursory check for stragglers before heading down the trail. He had gone perhaps ten steps when he saw her. Bev was standing by the edge of the path in the moonlight.
"Bev, what are you doing here? We have to go now!"
"I waited for you."
"Come on, we have to go like the wind!" He took her hand and they plunged down the trail.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Lieutenant Loren Middleton and his crew prepare to join an infantry battalion on Bataan because their Motor Torpedo Boat's engines have failed. They are finally able to repair the MTB and escape to Mindanao, where they run intelligence missions for the O.S.S. Loren lives with Tomi, a young Filipino girl, who is carrying his child. Discovered by the Japanese, they fight a spectacular battle and escape to Leyte.
After liberation, Loren continues in the O.S.S. He and the nurse Beverly marry. After the formation of the CIA, Loren becomes the liaison to the Philippine Government. Beverly miscarries and suffers bouts of depression, eventually going to a sanitarium. In the Philippines, open warfare has broken out between the government and the communist dominated Huk guerrillas. Loren develops a strategy to defeat them.
He and his CIA team drop behind enemy lines in the mountains of Luzon to target the Huk formations. In an enormous ground and air battle, the government forces destroy the Huks.
Bev has recovered from her bouts of depression, but Loren and Maria, the daughter of one of his comrades, have fallen in love. On Mindanao, he finds Tomi and their daughter, Nita, who comes to live with Bev and him. He and Maria say their painful goodbyes. Ten years later, when Nita is graduating as the valedictorian of her high school class, the participants look back on their lives.
About the Author
Before his early retirement from U.S. Government service, Mr. Littleton spent many years working in the intelligence community and the Department of Defense. His military experience was with the Marine Corps where he spent time in Japan and Korea. He has lived in Australia, South Africa, and the U.K., and has traveled extensively in Europe, and Africa. He researched "Guerrilla!" in the Philippines.
Mr. Littleton has previously published "The Knights of Malta," about World War II, and "The Cajun," a story of Southeast Asia.. He bases much of what he writes on personal experiences. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. He lives in Ridgecrest, California with his wife and two daughters.