I just finished reading "Combat!, No Rest for Heroes", the 1965 novel by Harold Calin. Over all, I liked it. What Calin chooses to include in the story makes me think he is a vet. I'm talking about how he describes the anatomy of a patrol - the organization and coordination it takes to put a patrol together. He writes:

Page 23:

"Hanley began his detailed plan of the patrol, using an order pad to list every detail and going over everything twice. He prepared a checklist for contacts with supporting units, detailed the patrol route and time schedule, allowed four rallying points with time coordinates if the patrol had to break up, broke down specific sentry duties for the patrol members, and decided after some deliberation that the men would wear their helmets and carry automatic weapons in addition to the pistols.

Page 24:

Working on the precise details of the patrol, he felt suddenly, very good, very sure of himself in doing what he knew he could do well. He worked rapidly and forced a pattern by which he could remember as much of the detail as possible without having to resort to maps or lists in the dark as they moved.

Page 25:

They were all sitting in the S-2's office in battalion headquarters now, waiting for dark. There had been an inspection earlier, after the men had been issued the sidearms and the battalion intelligence officer had conducted a final briefing. Then, while the S-2 and Hanley had decided on signs and countersigns for contact with the engineers manning the assault boats, Saunders and the men of the patrol had eaten a hot meal in the battalion mess...

Page 26:

"You all know the rallying points and the times?" he asked...

"You've all got compasses. Now, I have arranged with the battalion artillery to have a salvo of seventy-fives fired every hour on the hour, beginning at 2100 hours. The position of the battery is on my map and the one Sergeant Saunders is carrying. It is marked in green. If anything happens to one of us, you can use the shellfire as a bearing point for azimuths. That covers all of it, I guess. The sign and countersign we will use with the engineers is Carrier Pigeon."

Page. 27:

The intelligence officer had entered his office and now the men were coming out, Saunders checking their equipment once more as they came through the doorway into the night....

We'll be walking up to the meeting point with the engineers, so double-check your gear to be sure you won't make any noize."

******
The author then details the techniques used by troop carrier drivers negotiating dark roads at night on page 29. And on page 35 the author details the arrangements made by the Army Corp. of Engineers who ferry the patrol across the river.

All this, and more serve to make you feel like you're really there. There's only so much that can be said and shown in a 45-47 minute Combat! episode. I think Calin's "Combat!, No Rest for Heroes" as well as his other two books, "Combat!" and "Combat!, Men, Not Heroes" will be worth the time hunting for in second hand book stores. That's what I'm going to be doing with my weekends anyway.

Nancy LionStorm

By jopotwill@aol.com on Unrecorded Date:

Have you found all the Harold Calin's books? I've been trying to get my hands on them. Anyone out there know where I can either buy or loan one?