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Book Review
A Cape Cod Kinship—Two Centuries, Two Wars,
Two Men
Dana Eldridge
ISBN: 978-0-9677008-0-9, 204 pp.
By Dr. Kris Barnett
For many people, war creates bonds that endure for years. For
Dana Eldridge, war created a bond that spans multiple generations.
This bond is evident in A Cape Cod Kinship—Two Centuries, Two
Wars, Two Men.
To craft this book, Eldridge researched and reprinted key points
of Ebenezer Smalley’s personal journal. Smalley, Eldridge’s greatgreat
grandfather, left his idyllic Cape Cod life and his family to
fight for the Union in the Civil War. Eldridge, 112 years later, left
his own idyllic Cape Cod life and family to fight with the U. S.
Army in Korea.
Throughout this book, Smalley’s journal entries are juxtaposed
with Eldridge’s recounting of his war-time exploits, offering the
reader a sense of the men’s kinship and the timelessness of the soldiers’
experiences.
Despite the passage of a century, in some ways, Eldridge’s emotions
and experiences were strangely similar to those of Smalley.
Not only will readers appreciate the parallels between the men, but
they will also most likely appreciate Eldridge’s perspective and
unique writer’s voice.
For example, Eldridge describes basic training: “It was time to
join the other draftees for the mild endurance test that was to be
basic training. Basic training is where a lot of human chaff is
poured in the large end of a psyche-forming funnel and partially
trained soldiers pour out the other end” (p. 64). In fact, each man
depicts training as a seemingly endless cycle of drills, the importance
of which is not evident until his mettle is tested under fire.
The stories of Smalley and Eldridge are adeptly and fluidly
woven together, and as each man heads closer to danger and
expresses his anxiety about the unknown, the suspense is heightened.
Ebenezer Smalley wrote in 1864: “We soon find out what is
ahead. We are on the march. What had sounded like heavy surf off
in the distance turns out to be cannon fire a few miles away, iron
surf beating on the soft shores of men” (p. 75).
Eldridge expresses his thoughts on his initiation to combat in
Korea: “Those first days on the front lines were a learning experience
and I, for one, felt way behind the curve. There was so much
we had taken for granted – freedom of movement, sleep, cleanliness,
even life itself. These all had to be modified or discarded and
unlearned” (p. 110).
Both Eldridge and his great-great grandfather adapt quickly on
the battlefield to face their respective enemies. However, Smalley
does not fare as well as Eldridge, as Smalley is shot in the shoulder
by what Civil War soldiers called a ball. The wound, which likely
would have been treatable in Korea, becomes infected, and Smalley
returns to the Cape, where he dies of his wounds.
Eldridge, on the other hand, completes his time and also returns
to the Cape. Though in good physical health, Eldridge, like so
many others, considers the long-term impact of his Army experience.
He writes, in retrospect, “I clearly remember trying to share
some of my experiences with a good friend and came to realize that
I couldn’t. The chasm was too wide, and part of me would forever
be on the other side” (p. 173).
Ironically, there is a good chance that Smalley and Eldridge
would have been able to bridge that chasm and appreciate each
other’s battlefield experiences.
This is a book replete with details for the history buff, for the
military enthusiast, and for the amateur genealogist alike. For
Eldridge, the book no doubt offers better understanding how war,
with all its violence and all its glory, forges a bond – a bond that’s
relative.
Operation Broken Reed: Truman’s Secret North
Korean Spy Mission That Averted World War III.
Lt. Col. Arthur L. Boyd
U. S. Army (Ret),
ISBN- 13: 978-0-7867-2086-6, Da Capo Press.
By Jim Allen
The author spins a very good story about a secret
spy mission in North Korea (NK) in January 1952.
The presentation and structure are very intriguing
and quickly draw the reader into the heart of the
story. A team of ten men drawn from the U. S. Air
Force, B-29 pilots, the U. S. Army, the U. S. Navy
frog men, and the CIA are brought into the plan by various means
by a Colonel Brown—maybe not his real name. Their cover story,
in case they are captured, is this: they are a B-29 crew that was shot
down on a bombing mission.
The book’s author was stationed in Germany in 1951as a communication
officer with access to crypto materials and systems.
Colonel Brown flew to Germany to interview Boyd, the author. By
what means or vetting Boyd was selected is not clear.
Brown informed him this was a secret mission at the direction
of the President of the United States, and without the counsel of his
staff, the Pentagon, DOD, or anyone else. He was advised it would
be a very dangerous mission. Boyd agreed to participate if selected.
Time moves on and the group of ten, including Boyd, plus
Colonel Brown, assembled at Camp Drake in Japan. Extensive
briefings were conducted by Brown. Each of the ten had already
been assigned a fictitious name. Lt. Boyd became Sergeant Michael
Baker.
The plan was to move them near the NK coast by submarine,
and from there, with the help of Navy frogmen, on to the shore.
They were to be met by Nationalist Chinese dressed in Communist
uniforms. These Nationalist Chinese were to be their protectors and
guides across North Korea from the east coast to the west coast.
En route they were to contact a number of spies who were
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