A Mission for Delta

The neatest thing about any book by L.H. Burruss is knowing it was written by the real McCoy. Not an "as told to" ghost writer, but by Burruss himself. The next neatest thing is knowing that Burruss was no ordinary soldier. I mean by this that he was an officer, a career soldier unlike most of his literary predecessors, who as temporary warriors served in the enlisted ranks or as officers and gave up soldiering when they'd fulfilled their draft, enlistment or ROTC obligations. Brilliant as it may be, there's something missing in the work those guys produced. Their characters come across as victims, tyrants or buffoons playing in a tragedy or a farce ruled by a fickle God or by humankind gone mad. Most novels about war do not portray soldiering as a dignified, honorable vocation. As you might have guessed, Burruss' work does. To best appreciate his four novels, I would suggest first reading "Mike Force," an autobiographical account of his two tours in Vietnam as a Special Forces officer assigned to the Montagnard rapid response units that rode to the rescue of besieged outlying units as a modern, helicopter-borne cavalry. Fast-forward to Burruss' most recent novel, "A Mission for Delta," an imaginative thriller set far from the jungles of Vietnam. The characters are vividly drawn, with an authenticity that comes as much from Burruss' skill as a writer as the rock solid experience he drew upon in an Army career that itself is the stuff of myth. For a glimpse of the Burruss who eventually reached a pinnacle of military accomplishment as deputy commander of the legendary Delta Force anti-terrorist unit before retiring as a lieutenant colonel, check out the book on the unit's creation, "Delta Force," by its founding commander, Col. Charlie Beckwith. Because Burruss was presumably still doing secret stuff when Beckwith's book came out in 1983, the author concealed his protégé's identity by using only his nickname, "Buckshot." Here's an excerpt from Beckwith's book, describing Burruss: "Another southerner, from Virginia tidewater country, Buckshot, had he a smaller nose, could have passed for Robert Redford. Quick-witted and daring, he could be trusted with your life. I trusted him with mine." Bottom line, here, is that "A Mission for Delta" is a mighty fine read.