Protecting The Queen (Paperback)

George Gobel, the comedian, used to describe his wartime service as, Defending the people of Oklahoma from the Japanese," and many ex-servicemen adapted the line to explain duty far from the dangers of battle. Because Tim Dolan, the protagonist in my book, had entered the military five days before the hostilities ended in Korea, then spent eighteen months in England, Protecting the Queen, seemed to be an appropriate title. The novel is the nostalgic story of a young man who gave up a college deferment to enter the service against the wishes of his recently-widowed mother, whose other son was already in the Army. He was unhappy with the direction he was taking, and saw the military as a way to escape his present situation. After basic training, he shipped out to England, and spent his first Christmas away from home on a troop transport on the Atlantic Ocean. In essence, it is a series of short stories about his personal experiences, and those of his comrades in arms. A few of these vignettes concern some of the British people who became his friends, including his first love. It is my hope that the reader will find it interesting, as well as humorous."