Before the all-volunteer Army, there was the draft. This meant that most young American men had to decide how they were going to meet their military obligation. As the Cold War dragged on and the Vietnam War heated up, how a person met this obligation assumed critical importance. The choices were stark. If you were in college, you were safe. If not, you could wait to be drafted with the understanding that you could be sent to Vietnam as a combat soldier, or you could volunteer for an assignment that offered the chance of avoiding infantry combat in a rice paddy. Volunteering, however, also had a price. You would serve for a longer time, often in a foreign country far away from friends and family. "C Trick" tells the story of some of those who volunteered. The book is a tale that describes how one group of young citizen-soldiers met their military obligation during the last half of the Sixties. The book describes what it was like to be a soldier in a special Army unit stationed in what may have been the most important Cold War hot spot. Using prose from the era, the book captures all the humor and frustration experienced by young men coping with the rigors of military life. The reader will experience the frustration of these men when they were expected to perform difficult technical work in an important national security facility while also dealing with military absurdities. This book captures all the details of how these soldiers worked, played and tried to avoid military life while serving in the Army. It is a very refreshing account of how Cold War soldiers spent their time while their lives were on hold.
About the Author: Donald M. Cooper was a German linguist for the U.S. Army Security Agency in Berlin during the Cold War. After his military service, he earned a degree in history and journalism from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, and began his journalism career, working as an editor-columnist-cartoonist at small newspapers in six states. He won numerous journalism awards for feature and editorial writing, political columns and editorial cartooning. In addition to "C Trick," Cooper has written "Chasing Teddy Ballgame," a semi-autobiographical novel; and "Slap Happy, Arkansas," a novel; and three screenplays - "C Trick" and "Chasing Teddy Ballgame" and "Lozen" He also is the creator of the syndicated comic strip "Caleb." Cooper and his wife, artist-poet Annette, and their twelve dogs, eleven cats and two potbellied pigs live on a small farm in the Texas Panhandle.