......The regimental commander asked me to be at ease and take a seat. ......"Lieutenant, I’d like you to take command of the regimental Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon. I use the I&R platoon to carry out special missions, infiltrating enemy positions to gather intelligence and capture prisoners. The men in this platoon were all hand-picked by the former platoon leader. I believe you are the ideal man to take his place." ......"Former platoon leader," I repeated to myself silently, trying not to reveal my growing apprehension. "I wonder what happened to him…as if I couldn’t guess."

......In the third year of the Korean War, a young army officer arrived in Korea for combat duty. He was assigned to the U.S. 31st Infantry Regiment, code name Bearcat. For almost two years he had been preparing to lead infantry soldiers in combat. Little of that training, however, had equipped him for what now awaited him as the new commander of Bearcat I&R—a unit best described in retrospect as a cross between "F-Troop" and "The Dirty Dozen." ......Now this enlightening and entertaining story documenting the final months of the "Forgotten War" is available as an ebook for Kindle, Nook, iPad or as a .pdf download from Booklocker. The first several chapters of the book can be read online at the Booklocker site or the Kindle site (just click on the book cover), or they can be downloaded to your Kindle for review without cost. A free sample download is also available for Nook users. Here is the link to the iPad version. ......If you would like to see a more detailed description of how some of the men in this story helped bring an earlier end to the Korean War, go to Connecting the Dots.