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Novels by John J. Gobbell A Call to Colors óóóóó (Todd Ingram series) Edge of Valor The Neptune Strategy When Duty Whispers Low A Code for Tomorrow The Last Lieutenant óóóóó The Brutus Lie JOHN J. GOBBELL NAVAL INSTITUTE PRESS ANNAPOLIS , MARYLAND Gobbell FM Final Proof.indd 3 5/20/14 11:08 AM This book has been brought to publication with the generous assistance of Marguerite and Gerry Lenfest. Naval Institute Press 291 Wood Road Annapolis, MD 21402 © 2014 by John J. Gobbell All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gobbell, John J. Edge of valor : a Todd Ingram novel / John J. Gobbell. pages cm Summary: “Edge of Valor is the fifth thriller by John J. Gobbell featuring the World War II exploits of Cdr. Todd Ingram. As commanding officer of the destroyer USS Maxwell, Ingram must save his ship when it is hit by a kamikaze on the last day of the war. After the war’s end, Brig. Gen. Otis Dewitt, an Army buddy from Corregidor and now an intelligence aide on MacArthur’s staff, takes Ingram to Manila on the same aircraft as sixteen Japanese diplomats. MacArthur’s staff and the Japanese envoys negotiate the terms for Japan’s surrender. DeWitt and the State Department then send Ingram to Sakhalin Island to defuse a Soviet attack on Hokkaido, where Ingram’s old adversary, Edward Dezhnev, is the commander laying siege to a Japanese command in Toro. Also on Toro is Walter Boring, a Red Cross representative with two crates of overwhelming photographic evidence of Japan’s experiments on humans in China. Ingram must return with those crates, but Boring is guarded by the Japanese garrison in Toro and is under attack by Dezhnev. Three weeks earlier Ingram had been fighting the Japanese, and the Russians were supposedly his friends. Now, he doesn’t know who to trust”— Provided by publisher. ISBN 978-1-61251-519-9 (hardback) — ISBN 978-1-61251-520-5 (ebook) 1. Ingram, Todd (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. World War, 1939–1945—Naval operations, American—Fiction. 3. United States. Navy—Officers—Fiction. I. Title. PS3557.O16E46 2014 813’.54—dc23 2014008793 Print editions meet the requirements of ANSI/NISO z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper). Printed in the United States of America. 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 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. 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 sus- tain 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 equip- ment 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. vii viii | John J. Gobbell 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 com- mentary 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 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) ix x | John J. Gobbell 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 Edge of Valor | xi 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 Greater East Asia - 1945 90° 100° 110° 120° 130° 140° 150° S OV I E T Sea of Okhotsk TANNU U N I O N TUVA Karafutu 50° Khabarovsk (Sakhalin) Toro s (Shakhtyorsk) n d l a M O N G O L I A I s Harbin i l u r MANCHUKUO K N Vladivostok Hokkaido Mukden Sea of A Peking 40° Dalian Japan Seoul P KOREA Honshu Yellow A Tokyo Sea J C H I N A Kure Osaka PACIFIC Shikoku Nanjing East Kyushu OCEAN INDIA anghai Sh China 30° Chungking Sea ds an BHUTAN Changsha sl Bonin .