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Spanning over 200 years of American military history, “The Wars Among the Paines” (Koehler Books, September 30, 2020), tells the complex story of a family defined by war, accounting in vivid detail its toll in blood, treasure, and emotional turmoil. Nearly 50 years in the making, “The Wars Among the Paines” is the debut novel by Vietnam veteran John M. Millar, who tells a story that illustrates how the consequences of America’s foreign wars escape the boundaries of the front lines, and ripple through generations of families, friends, politics, and the lives of we the people.

Enjoy an Excerpt

THOMAS PINKERTON PAINE JOINS THE FIRST DIVISION—APRIL 1918
“OVER THERE”—George M. Cohan

Thomas left on a troopship for France. He stayed on deck the entire time, except for meals, to minimize his contact in a closely packed ship. One of his goals was to return to his family by avoiding the diseases so easily contracted in war zones. He arrived in St. Nazaire, France, and was rapidly transported in a second-class passenger coach, while enlisted men rode in boxcars.

Thomas arrived at the front at a time that the First Division was the only fully trained American division in France. They had already lost a disproportionate number of junior officers in their first operational missions. Thomas was immediately assigned as a platoon leader in the 1/26th. He had been in France for less than one month, but he was about to engage in his first combat mission. The mission was to capture the town of Cantigny and the surrounding high ground.

On May 27, 1918, the division moved into its attack positions, and the next morning commenced their attack on the German positions in and around Cantigny. As the First Division advanced, German machine-gunners delivered heavy fire, killing three officers in Company A. The advance halted, while the advance party was pinned down. Until the machine guns were taken out, the First Division could not move. Second Lt. Paine gathered five volunteers, all armed with automatic rifles and grenades.

Thomas had this exact tactical problem while he trained in Ithaca. He had his remaining men deliver heavy fire on the machine gun positions, while his team pulled back and circled the Germans’ flank. They advanced slowly, then charged the bunkers, using their grenades first. When the grenades flushed out those who were not dead, the men fired their automatic rifles, killing the rest of the gunners and their support. Thomas’ and his men’s heroism would be recognized after the battle—if they were still alive.

About the Author:

John M. Millar has no traditional experience in writing a novel. “The Wars Among the Paines” is a result of a fifty-year process since returning from Vietnam in 1969. Millar grew up in Central Pennsylvania; and graduated from Cornell University in 1966. He served in the U.S. Army from 1966-1969; graduated from Officer Candidate School in July 1967; served as a First Lieutenant with the First Infantry Division in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969; and received two Bronze Stars, an Air Medal and a Commendation Medal from the U.S. Army. From the Vietnam government, Millar received the Vietnamese Honor Medal and the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross for joint operations. He graduated from the Darden Graduate Business School, University of Virginia with a MBA in 1972. For the past forty-five years, he has served in senior executive positions in the department store, regional mall REITs and mixed-use town center development industries.

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