By Darryl James, Published by Amazon Kindle 2024

This prequel to the Leopard Series is set during the Vietnam War,

Tran Le Trang, a Vietnamese teenager, is recruited from his mother’s farm in Tam K by ruthless Viet Cong leader, Commander Ro Kwaw. Tran learns that Kwaw is untrustworthy, deceitful, and a murderer, and he desires to be free of him and the Viet Cong.

Meanwhile, Dirk Jamison and his fellow pilots are learning to survive flying a scout helicopter for Americal’s Division Artillery Air Section. Jamison flies in a dangerous two-ship scout mission for the Marines. 

Formats Available
Hardcover : $24
Paperback: $14
Kindle: $4.99

A Vietnam War drama about Americal Divison’s Divarty Air scout helicopter pilots and
their Viet Cong guerilla antagonists in I Corps in 1968. A character-driven narrative tells tragic
stories of helicopter combat and love. Stories from both sides of the conflict set the stage for
characters who continue in the Leopard Series.

Tran Le Trang is a Vietnamese teenager recruited from his mother’s farm and trained by a ruthless
Viet Cong leader, Commander Ro Kwaw. Tran becomes a competent guerilla and is quickly promoted. He soon realizes that his commander is untrustworthy, deceitful, and a murderer―he desires to be free of him and the Viet Cong.
Meanwhile, Dirk Jamison and his fellow pilots are learning to survive flying scout helicopters in the
dangerous mountains and rice fields for the Americal Division’s Artillery Air Section.
Commander Kwaw’s squad transports Russian rockets through Viet Cong jungle supply trails
tethered on bicycles. The VC squad fires the rockets into Americal’s massive base in Chu Lai. One of the Divarty Pilots, CW2 Billy Davis, falls in love with a nurse in Chu Lai. They secretly plan to marry when they return to the States. The nurse was tragically killed in one of Kwaw’s rocket attacks.

The young officer is devastated and contemplates suicide.
Dirk Jamison flies in a dangerous two-ship scout mission for the Marines with pilot Waco Sledge and crew chiefs Jim Jensen and Thomas Johnson. Unfortunately, Sledge’s chopper gets shot down, and his Marine AO is killed by enemy gunfire. Jamison loads both crews into his aircraft, safely bringing a dangerously overloaded aircraft home.