Abstract:
Carter Randolph Rutledge, scion of Southern wealth and power, finds himself as the unwitting target of the initial opposition to the Vietnam War. Rutledge and his colleague and lover, Valerie Fearington, have been chosen to direct the initial operation of the U. S. Army to introduce prototype high tech medical equipment into the field in Vietnam. The Joint Chiefs of Staff are preparing for an escalation of an already unpopular war. This clandestine program will signal the true intent of the military establishment and their commitment to a long-term involvement in this conflict in Southeast Asia.

Military intelligence suggests that the early opposition to the war involves only an unholy mix of over- privileged students, maverick priests, and bleeding heart liberals. They are characterized in the military assessments as disorganized and ineffectual which proves to be tragically flawed and inaccurate intelligence.