Edge of Valor (2 page)

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First printing

Book design: David Alcorn, Alcorn Publication Design

Maps created by Philip Schwartzberg, Meridian Mapping, Minneapolis.

Dedicated to the men and women who served in the American and Allied forces during the long, and sometimes bloody, Cold War. Your contribution may have not been immediately apparent, but you did indeed prevail. Because of you, the world is a much better place. Well done
.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Cast of Characters

Part One

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Part Two

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty-One

Part Three

Chapter Forty-Two

Chapter Forty-Three

Chapter Forty-Four

Chapter Forty-Five

Chapter Forty-Six

Chapter Forty-Seven

Chapter Forty-Eight

Chapter Forty-Nine

Chapter Fifty

Chapter Fifty-One

Epilogue

About the Author

Acknowledgments

There's no doubt that people are the essence of it all: our friends, our relatives, our spouses and children, our bosses, teachers, coworkers, healthcare providers, casual acquaintances, even those we don't count among our friends. They drive the engine that allows us to exercise our talents and, eventually, accomplish a goal or two—maybe even more if the good Lord is with us. I am no exception. I constantly turn to these people whether or not I'm in trouble. Their comfort and talents sustain me. Over the years they have contributed to my works in more ways than they will ever know. Among them, in no significant order are the following.

The flying scenes were greatly enhanced by Capt. Daniel Truax, USN (Ret.), and my old friend and corsair jockey Dick Bertea, formerly a pilot for the U.S. Marine Corps. Commentary about U.S. Navy organization, tactics, and equipment came from “tin can sailor” Rear Adm. David Ramsey, USN (Ret.). Another old friend, submariner, and fellow author, Cdr. George A. Wallace, USN (Ret.), provided kind advice as well. Yet another friend and contributor is fellow tin can sailor Terry Miller, executive director and editor of the National Association of Destroyer Veterans. A wonderful friend, yachtsman, naval aviator, and patriot, Capt. Randall J. Lynch, commanding officer of the NROTC unit at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, helped with naval customs and usage.

When medical problems were involved, I once more turned to Dr. Russell Striff and Fred Meister, PhD. Elsewhere I received fine counsel from Bob Bailey, Robert G. Mahan, and Beverly Hills Police Chief David L. Snowden. My hat is off once again to Susan Kechekian of USC's Department of Slavic Studies for her invaluable help with Russian translations not only here but also in the second novel of the Todd Ingram series,
A Code for Tomorrow
.

Most of all, thanks to Rick Russell, director of the Naval Institute Press, whose kind commentary, suggestions, and editing provided the true engine for this work.

As always, my wife, Janine, is not only a great editor (something I relearn every time I go through this) but also a marvelous and loving partner. None of this—and all of the wonderful events in my life—would have occurred without her.

Also, to you, my readers thank you, and thank you, and thank you for your support, encouragement, critique, and e-mails over the years. Truly, it is you who keep me going. Please visit my website,
www.JohnJGobbell.com
, for commentary on my novels including photos of the actual people, places, and military equipment portrayed herein. Many of the characters in this novel appear in the previous four Todd Ingram novels. As always, mistakes herein are mine alone, many times called to my attention by your kind e-mails. Please keep it up.

JJG

February 2014

Newport Beach, California

Cast of Characters

Note:
Karafuto Island and Toro Airfield became Sakhalin Oblast and Shakhtyorsk Airfield, respectively, after the Soviets captured them in August–September 1945.

U.S. Navy

USS
Maxwell
(DD 525) (Crackerjack), attached to DESRON 77

       
Cdr. Alton C. (Todd) Ingram, commanding officer

       
Lt. Cdr. Eldon P. (Tubby) White, executive officer

       
Lt. Thomas F. (Woody) Woodruff, operations officer

       
Lt. Julian Falco, gunnery officer, main battery director

DESRON 77

Maxwell
(flag); DesDiv 77.1,
Maxwell
(flag),
Shaler, Bertea
, and
Geiler;
DesDiv 77.2,
Wallace
(flag),
Cheffer, Beaulieu
, and
Truax

       
Capt. Jeremiah T. (Boom Boom) Landa, commodore, Destroyer Squadron 77

Eleventh Naval District, Long Beach, California

       
Cdr. Oliver P. (Ollie) Toliver III, case officer, Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI)

       
Cdr. Walter (Walt) Hodges, supply officer, Long Beach Naval Station

Other U.S. Navy Personnel

       
Adm. William F. Halsey Jr., commander, Third Fleet

       
Vice Adm. John S. McCain Sr., commander, Task Force 38 under Admiral Halsey

       
Lt. Larry M. O'Toole, attached as Japanese-language interpreter to Manila peace talks and first Karafuto expedition

U.S. Army

SCAP Staff, Manila and Tokyo

       
Gen. Douglas A. MacArthur, supreme commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP)

       
Gen. Richard K. Sutherland, General MacArthur's chief of staff

       
Brig. Gen. Otis (n) DeWitt, aide to General Sutherland

       
Col. Sydney Mashbir, Japanese-language expert and chief negotiator, Manila

       
Maj. Clive W. Neidemeier, State Department liaison, Ie Shima Air Base/Atsugi Air Base

Karafuto (Sakhalin) Expeditions

       
First expedition: USAAF C-54, tail number 626384 (Hot Rod 384)

       
Second expedition: USAAF C-54 744326 (Apprentice 26)

       
Maj. Marvin F. (Bucky) Radcliff, pilot and aircraft commander, first expedition

       
1st Lt. Leroy Telford K. Peoples, copilot, first expedition; pilot and aircraft commander, second expedition

       
Capt. Jonathan L. (Jon) Berne, navigator, first and second expeditions

       
2nd Lt. Richard W. Lassiter, copilot, second expedition

       
Sgt. Leonard (n) Hammer, flight sergeant, engineer, first and second expeditions

       
GySgt. Ulysses Gaylord (Ugly) Harper, USMC, squad leader of thirteen Marines, first expedition

       
GySgt. Horace T. Boland, USMC, squad leader of thirteen Marines, second expedition

       
Colin Blinde, agent, Office of Strategic Services (OSS)

San Pedro, California

       
Maj. Helen Durand Ingram, U.S. Army, Todd Ingram's wife; floor nurse, Ward 6, Fort MacArthur Infirmary

       
Emma Peabody, Todd and Helen Ingram's next-door neighbor on South Alma Street

       
Maj. Julian T. Raduga, MD, U.S. Army, psychiatrist, Fort MacArthur Infirmary

       
Cpl. Eddie Bergen, patient, Ward 6, Fort MacArthur Infirmary; previously U.S. Army M-4 tanker on Okinawa

Hollywood, California

       
Laura West, pianist, NBC Symphony Orchestra, West Coast Division

       
Maestro Arturo Toscanini, conductor, NBC Symphony Orchestra, West Coast Division

       
Roberta Thatcher, business manager, NBC Symphony Orchestra

       
Anoushka Dezhnev, Russian film star; mother of Eduard Dezhnev

Soviets

USSR Navy

       
Captain Third Rank Eduard Ianovich Dezhnev, garrison commander, 21st Naval Regiment, Shakhtyorsk Airfield, Sakhalin Island

       
Captain First Rank Gennady Kulibin, Dezhnev's immediate superior at Shakhtyorsk Airfield, Sakhalin; later, commanding officer of the cruiser
Admiral Volshkov

NKVD (Narodnyi Kommissariat Vnutrennikh del), Soviet Secret Service, predecessor of the MGB and KGB

       
Karol Dudek, Polish assassin

       
Oleg Lepechn, agent, Shakhtyorsk Airfield, Sakhalin

       
Matvie Borzakov, agent, Shakhtyorsk Airfield, Sakhalin

Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN)

       
Captain Shiroku Fujimoto, commander minefields of Tokyo Bay and environs

       
Major Kotoku Fujimoto, commander Toro Airfield, Karafuto (Sakhalin), Imperial Japanese Marines

International Red Cross

       
Walter Frederick Boring, Geneva, Switzerland; representative assigned to the northeast Asia sector