Duty. Training instills it in every soldier, sailor and airman. It moves them to perform difficult, sometimes impossible tasks. In this collection of previous published and new short stories, author Martin Roy Hill explores the sense of duty that drives men in desperate situations.
In the title story, “Duty,” a Cold War soldier faces the prospect of starting WWIII. In “Something Far Away,” a former Coastguardsman must face his ghosts from the past. A Navy investigator faces a different kind of ghost aboard a nuclear aircraft carrier in “Destroyer Turns.” “Brandenberg’s Diaries” tells the story of a retired spy’s last mission during Glasnost. A group of soldiers faces the curse of war over several generations in “The Stragglers.” And in “The Use of Innocence,” a Vietnam vet contemplates a younger generation eager for another war.
Martin Roy Hill spent more than 20 years as a staff reporter and editor for newspapers and magazines, before becoming a military analyst specializing in battlefield medical operations for the Navy. His freelance credits include Reader’s Digest, LIFE, Newsweek, Omni, American History, Coast Guard Magazine, Retired Officer Magazine, the Los Angeles Times Sunday Opinion Section, and many more.
Much of his freelance work involves historical topics, especially military history. He was a lead contributor to the 1995 WWII anthology, “From Pearl Harbor to Nagasaki: America at War,” published by the Retired Officer Association (now called the Military Officer Association). He also writes a blog on politics and history, “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow,” for Open Salon.
In addition to writing nonfiction, Hill also writes short fiction. His short stories have appeared in such publications as Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, San Diego Magazine, and San Diego Writer’s Monthly.
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