Warning of War, James Brady (Thomas Dunne Books, 2002)***

This book falls somewhere between an action/adventure and a historical novel, with significant elements of both. The author, James Brady, commanded a combat platoon during the Korean War and has written several best-selling books on that war. This novel is about a small detachment of Marines who were given the task of contacting and leading to safety those few other small detachments of Marines who were stranded in China when Pearl Harbor brought our country into World War II.

The story, based on real people, events and places, begins in Shanghai in late 1941, in the chaos of the war between Japan and China and the impeding involvement of the United States. When the United States enters the war, there are numerous hazards this small band of Marines must deal with as they make their way inland and north toward the safety of USSR. The Communist Chinese are fighting the Nationalists, both are fighting the Japanese, and there are bandits to deal with in the northern provinces of China, not to mention the hazards of fierce weather in the Gobi Desert, rivers to cross and snow covered mountains to traverse.

Captain Billy Port, a wealthy Bostonian, an Annapolis graduate and career Marine who likes the good life and has grown to like China, is placed in charge of this special detachment, not much larger than a reinforced squad with a few trucks, a mortar and a few machine guns. They book passage on a tramp steamer from Shanghai north to a coastal city from which they make their way inland. Along the way, in addition to more Marines, they are accompanied by some colorful fellow travelers; a Jesuit priest who knows the area they must traverse to reach USSR, a young Chinese doctor who risks her life to save others from an epidemic, and a French raconteur who also functions as an excellent chauffer.

In addition to fighting bandits and a few rogue Marines who are led by a drugged-out deserter, they are pursued by a determined squad of Japanese soldiers, one of whom was raised in California and was a close friend of Captain Port’s before Pearl Harbor. Captain Port’s battles and escapades are numerous and realistically depicted by Brady, who appears to be familiar with Marine battle tactics and the weaponry of that time period. There’s enough geography, archaeology and history sprinkled in to remind the reader that something like this actually happened, if not quite the way it is written, so the story is quite a tribute to the courage, determination and training of these Marines and their resourceful leader. If ever this novel is made into a film, I could imagine a younger Sean Connery playing Captain Port.