A Saying Among Soldiers

by William Saffell

The Cold War is at its peak as Staff Sergeant Joe Jeffords joins the 514th MAAG Advisory Detachment. A veteran of honorable service in both World War II and Korea, Joe rejects the monotony of peacetime garrison duty in the states and returns to the Army after failing to adjust to civilian life. Looking for a sense of purpose, he finds it in the rigorous routine of his new station, where a sense of professionalism and a dedication to duty are instilled into even his most detached and cynical comrades. He also finds friendship, disillusionment, and the possibility of love with an engaging woman named Lin. In A Saying Among Soldiers, the indvidualistic observations of Joe Jeffords comprise a vivid and almost journal-like chronicle of a seemingly forgotten group of American military men in a distant land as they engage in a mission that is by turns mundane, thankless, and deadly.

220 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2005