The Korean conflict in 1950 was a full-blown war from hell.
Tom Brim, Jr. (Brim), after a year in college, dropped out and joined the Marine Corps. He was sent to Korea with a fighting unit and was gravely wounded after destroying two enemy machine gun nests, saving his platoon. He was decorated for his heroism by President Eisenhower.
Brim returned home to Miami and completed his recovery supported by his family. To the surprise of his family, he then joined the Miami-Dade Police Department.
South Florida was a hotbed of drug smuggling, murders and money laundering schemes conducted by drug cartels and gangs.
Brim headed a major task force formed to bring down a hatchet and sword wielding cartel leader named Hatchet Man and his gang. Brim killed Hatchet man in a strip mall shootout and soon after learned that Hatchet Man II had emerged from within the cartel.
Brim attended night school at the University of Miami to obtain a degree in Criminal Justice. He fell in love with his philosophy professor, Margaret LeClerk. After graduation, Brim and Margaret were married.
Brim made sure that his wife and family were well protected as his role in the task force expanded. Policemen were placed around his family home, his parents' home, and were close when the family members went out.
The fight against Hatchet Man II and his gang intensified when Brim is kidnapped by the cartel and taken to a secret hiding place somewhere in east central Florida near the Atlantic Ocean. He was thrown into a one room building overlooking a dock where a speed boat was tied. The compound had three buildings, one was a hangar housing the sea plane belonging to Hatchet Man II. A local, state and federal agency search for Brim was initiated and the word went out nationally.
Hatchet Man II was nearby and entered Brim's room and ordered the guards to beat him. Brim plotted an ingenious plan to manipulate two guards by putting his bed near a window that he broke and took the glass to free his hands and feet from the ropes. He knocked the guards out on their next visit to his room and escaped in the speed boat.
Hatchet Man II chased Brim along the coast in his sea plane with a gang member firing a rifle at him from the plane's window. Brim swerved several times, tied his shirt to the steering wheel steadying the boat, and then quickly jumped out and swam to shore. He ran to a motel and told the clerk who he was. The clerk didn't believe him and Brim grabbed the desk phone and called police headquarters convincing the clerk. Hatchet Man II made several passes over the boat before realizing Brim had jumped out. He turned the plane south to look for Brim.
Brim is picked up in front of the motel by a patrol car driven by Detective Gallagher. They headed south toward police headquarters. Hatchet Man II spotted the car as he flew over the motel, and a chase ensued. The patrol car raced through side streets and across a huge field. Hatchet Man II flies to low and his front wheel of the seaplane smashes into a small hedge row. The plane flips and Hatchet Man II is caught inside. His passenger is thrown out. Police converge onto the field and arrest Hatchet Man II.
