Merc: American Soldiers of Fortune

by Jay Mallin, Robert K. Brown

Overview

The “fast-paced, fascinating, often shocking” account of hired guns and their heroic adventures in hotspots around the world—includes photos (Milwaukee Journal).

Merc is a classic; first published in 1979, its characters and stories are as vivid and worthy of retelling today. American soldiers of fortune have seen action on nearly every battlefield in history—from the Revolutionary War to modern times, men like John Early, a member of the famed Selous Scouts who hunted terrorists in Rhodesia. They fight because they enjoy combat, for causes in which they passionately believe, for money, or simply for adventure.

The mercs profiled in this book range from West Point graduates and Harvard poets to former CIA agents and ex-cons. They are men like William Morgan, a guerrilla leader in the Cuban uprising against Fulgencio Batista, later imprisoned and executed by Fidel Castro; David Marcus, raised in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen, who went on to a brilliant career in law and reform politics and died in 1947 fighting for the survival of a tiny new nation called Israel; William Brooks, Vietnam Special Forces veteran who, down and out in a cheap Paris hotel, joined the French Foreign Legion and ended up in a remote African outpost where he lived on Coke, salt tablets, and paregoric while fighting Somali insurgents; and George Bacon, an ex-CIA operative in Laos with mysterious connections, who died fighting Cubans in Angola.

Because their private histories parallel the larger history of unconventional warfare and political upheaval, Merc provides insight into global conflicts—but most of all it is a fast-paced, eye-opening account of a little-known but fascinating way of life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781612005928
Publisher:	Casemate Publishers
Publication date:	01/10/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	11 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Jay Mallin was a journalist and long-time correspondent for Time magazine. He was an expert on Cuban affairs, and covered the revolution led by Fidel Castro in the late Fifties and later reported from Nicaragua, Grenada and Angola. In the 1980's he became a Latin American correspondent for The Washington Times. A recognized authority on terrorism, he wrote numerous booksRobert K. Brown, former Green Beret, is the legendary founder of Soldier of Fortune, a magazine like no other, which became an icon for action-seekers in the U.S. and around the world. After a bizarre military career that succeeded in getting him kicked out of Special Forces not once but twice and being wounded in Vietnam, he accompanied teams to work and fight with the Rhodesians. the Afghans during the Afghan-Russo war, Christian Phalange in Lebanon. ethnic minority Karens in Burma. the ethnic tribes fighting the Communist government of Laos. the army of El Salvador. and the armed forces of struggling Croatia. Brown sent medical teams, often into the jaws of danger, to Burma, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Afghanistan, Bosnia, El Salvador and Nicaragua, and also into Peru after a devastating earthquake.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements vii

1 Who Are the Mercs? 1

2 William Morgan: From Intrigue to Frogs 5

3 David "Mickey" Marcus: A True Hero 23

4 The French Foreign Legion: A Tradition of Courage 42

5 William Brooks: The Legion Today 58

6 Brooks in the Legion: Africa and Action 68

7 L. H. "Mike" Williams: Kraals and Galloping Goffles 88

8 George Bacon: Fighting Against Communism 98

9 David Bufkin: Seller of Soldiers 117

10 Two in Nicaragua: William Walker and Mike Echanis 125

11 John Early: Rhodesian Adventures 136

12 American Soldiers of Fortune in History 151

Index 169

Editorial Reviews

…a unique and extraordinary read from first page to last.

Midwest Book Review