Summary

Tom Traylor is a man with a passion for adventure. He grows up in a small town in West Virginia. His High School sweetheart is Carrie Anne Trotter, a girl he will meet again in the strangest of circumstances.

In the 1930s, Tom gets a degree in dentistry and begins practice on Long Island, where he makes his home. Soon he turns to ocean yachting as a release from his boredom with everyday life. His brother, Brett, introduces him to flying. He and Brett go to Austria in 1938 to fly in an Air Show. In Austria Tom and Brett meet the beautiful Annamaria von Holstein. They both fall in love with her, competing with a Luftwaffe officer, Gunther Hammholtz.  Tom also meets Louisa Baudisch, a beautiful married friend of Annamaria. Louisa falls in love with Tom. The Germans invade Austria and Tom and Brett rescue Annamaria from Gunther and the Nazis and take her to America.

As World War II approaches, Tom is offered a commission as a Medical Officer in the U.S. Navy. He turns it down and asks for a commission as a line officer, much to Annamaria's distress. Tom comes to the attention of Commander Nigel Wolly, Royal Navy, who he met during a yacht race.  Commander Wolly has been sent to the United States to help set up a Maritime Unit in the Office of Special Services (OSS).

Tom's passion for adventure transforms into a warrior’s obsession that threatens to smother his love for Annamaria and his own life. He fights passionately to perfect the role of sea-air-land commandoes against overwhelming odds.

In his last mission, Tom is assigned to go behind enemy lines in Austria and target the German Esterhaz Line (Southeast Barricade) that blocks the Allied advance to Vienna. He is captured and tortured. He falls ill and is nursed back to health by Louisa Baudisch, who is still in love with him. His warrior obsession and his love for Annamaria are put to their strongest test.

You will be thrilled by the ending in which Tom confronts his arch enemy in a battle in the skies over Austria!

 

This story is fictional. It is based loosely on the real life adventures of Lieutenant Jack Taylor, USNR, the nations first real sea-air-land commando.