Tomorrow, soldier.

Tomorrow, soldier. by Paul F. F. Hood is an autobiographical novel in four parts: Part One, subtitled Gun Oil; Part Two, subtitled Perfect Proposal; Part Three, subtitled Himmler’s Gas Station; and Part Four, subtitled Return of the 8017 Elite SS. The novel, set from the end of World War II through the onset of the Cold War until the beginning of the Korean War, chronicles one soldier’s ongoing quest for a “normal” life. Instead, Paul F. Barker, an army Staff Sergeant, finds himself in the midst of a characteristically abnormal world in-between-the-wars. He struggles with the trauma of surviving and remembering wartime horrors as well as the effects of global espionage on his friendships, intimate relationships, and business dealings. There is nothing “normal” here, nothing is as it seems, not even Marlene Dietrich.

Paul F. F. Hood was born September 24, 1925 in northern Louisiana. He served in the United States military from 1945 until 1948, stationed in Germany. His unit was responsible for liberating Dachau and for burying General Patton. After returning to the United States, he received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Southwestern Louisiana Institute, now The University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He spent his working career with International Paper Company, Inc. where he designed corrugated containers and contributed to the company’s research on solar energy. He began writing Tomorrow, soldier. after he retired, completing a draft of the manuscript shortly before his death, April 20, 2006.

The author is survived by his three daughters, who wrote prefaces to Tomorrow, soldier., and by his wife, Mary Willene (Stinnett) Hood to whom the book is dedicated.