Dog Soldiers

In Saigon during the waning days of the Vietnam War, a small-time journalist named John Converse thinks he'll find action - and profit - by getting involved in a big-time drug deal. But back in the States, things go horribly wrong for him. Dog Soldiers perfectly captures the underground mood of America in the 1970s, when amateur drug dealers and hippies encountered profiteering cops and professional killers—and the price of survival was dangerously high.

Small-time journalist John Converse thinks to cash in on the last days of the Vietnam War by becoming involved in a major drug deal, but things go very wrong when he gets back to the U.S. and finds himself hunted by a corrupt government agent.

In his study of the civilian population that fell victim to the brutality of the 1860s Kansas Indian wars, Jeff Broome recounts the captivity of Susanna Alderdice, who was killed along with three of her children by her Cheyenne captors (known as Dog Soldiers) at the Battle of Summit Springs in July 1869, and of her four-year-old son, who was wounded then left for dead.

Looks at the Cheyenne Dog Soldiers through a nearly forgotten ledgerbook of pencil illustrations by Cheyenne warriors. Shows color photos of the drawings side-by-side with explanations and commentary, matching the drawings with known events, such as the 1865 battles of Rush Creek, Platte River Bridge, and Tongue River in the Dakota and Montana territories. Includes color illustrations and bandw photos. For general readers and historians. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

In the 1900s, technology was advancing at a speed which was at that time in Santa Fe as well as everyplace else, not only very new, but confusing and scary to many, especially for the older folks that were comfortable with the way things were. Particularly, it seemed so in most of New Mexico, where tradition was fossilized in a state of mañana, tomorrow. What’s the hurry? Like everything else, with time, people accepted what was new in their life and soon found these new technologies a real need. From small and large companies to each individual, new electronic gadgets became both lifesavers as well as hindrances at times. Dog Soldier of Los Cerrillos encompasses the life of some old military combat veterans and their tributes to freedom as well as their unhealed wounds. For many, the thousand-yard stare stayed with them for years. Combat made many soldiers chain-smoke, use drugs, and drink themselves drunk in hopes of reducing the pressure of always being in that life-or-death situation through every mission that would, as time went on, manifest itself into a lifetime of addiction. Cecil Franklin was no different. As a civilian who constantly fought his alcoholism. Falling off of the wagon came and went as life’s pressures grew or ebbed. Being Cheyenne and raised on the reservation in his early years was to teach him the old ways but as he became a young man he had searched out a trade in hopes of assimilating into modern society and move from the poverty of the reservation. He was, as were many other young men, serving in the military and the war in Vietnam. By a stroke of luck he became the handler of a black Labrador called Jet and one of a five man tracker team that searched and hunted in what was sometimes called Indian Country behind enemy lines. After his service, Cecil married, had fathered a daughter, divorced, and raised his daughter on his own after moving to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where his life took many turns.

Conditions create character. The unique conditions of the frontier breed a special kind of man, brave, strong, and capable. Thrown out onto the high plains to sink or swim, the Cheyenne bred the dog soldier, and became a strong and vibrant people. Plunging into the American wilderness to find the free life, the pioneer bred the ranger, a man who could build the cabin, hunt and bring home meat, and be ready on a moment’s notice to answer the call for help, to defend the family, kith and kin, with all his ability, even his life, to keep the people free and alive. The Dog Soldier's Manual is the story of this special kind of man, and describes in modern, common sense terms, the business of discipline that can make such a man today, one ready to handle the challenges of modern society and the new millennium. If you want to know how to be a man, The Dog Soldier’s Manual is a good place to start. The heart of the Manual identifies and explains the virtues and goals of dog soldier discipline, from the objects of personal grooming, including physical, mental, and emotional conditioning, expressiveness, and personal presence, to worldly affairs and animal matters, including hair, hygiene, habitat maintenance, possessions, cultural competence, feeding, and personal legend. The people never have too many dog soldiers.

A leading reporter offers a tour of military working dogs' extraordinary training, heroic accomplishments, and the lasting impacts they have on those who work with them. People all over the world have been riveted by the story of Cairo, the Belgian Malinois who was a part of the Navy SEAL team that led the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound. A dog's natural intelligence, physical abilities, and pure loyalty contribute more to our military efforts than ever before. You don't have to be a dog lover to be fascinated by the idea that a dog-the cousin of that furry guy begging for scraps under your table-could be one of the heroes who helped execute the most vital and high-tech military mission of the new millennium. Now Maria Goodavage, editor and featured writer for one of the world's most widely read dog blogs, tells heartwarming stories of modern soldier dogs and the amazing bonds that develop between them and their handlers. Beyond tales of training, operations, retirement, and adoption into the families of fallen soldiers, Goodavage talks to leading dog-cognition experts about why dogs like nothing more than to be on a mission with a handler they trust, no matter how deadly the IEDs they are sniffing, nor how far they must parachute or rappel from aircraft into enemy territory. "Military working dogs live for love and praise from their handlers," says Ron Aiello, president of the United States War Dogs Association and a former marine scout dog handler. "The work is all a big game, and then they get that pet, that praise. They would do anything for their handler." This is an unprecedented window into the world of these adventurous, loving warriors.

Best Selling author TONY HILERMAN says: A very good storybelievable characters and never a dull moment and told in just the right setting Dog Soldiers is a full-throttle, wild screaming ride through a world that few outsiders have ever seen. It is the authentic, unforgettable story of a motorcycle club in the vast expanses of Colorado and New Mexico. Enter a world of crooked cops and honorable ones; a world of drug dealers and desert-living paranoid misanthropes; a world of ancient tribal magic; a world of betrayal and of ironclad loyalty and the truest form of love. In 1972 after two tours in the ??Nam," hardened veteran Pete Savage returned to the ??World." But he discovered that the world he left behind had changed forever?áand so had he. He could no longer fit into a 9-to-5 life. Pete Savage, our misfit hero, started the Dog Soldiers Motorcycle Club in Colorado to create a refuge for himself and his "brothers." Now, almost 30 years later, Savage resigns as "Pres," satisfied just to be Road Captain. That's where the riding is, one of the main things Savage still lives for. The other is the alluring Sharon, the woman he can't keep his mind off of. Pete's secret liaison with Brown, the President of Denver's black club, the Wheels of Soul, had been forged in the early days to avoid violence between the two clubs. But it had grown into friendship and mutual trust. Now their trust would provide them with a potential ticket ??out." More money than they could ever spend in their remaining years. All money ever meant to either of them was freedom, but both of them needed a hell of a lot of freedom, too. All the freedom they could steal.