ECHOES OF A DISTANT CLARION

the long version

This book gives an inside view of 20th-century national and international events, through the life of a diplomat, soldier, and intelligence officer. Boyhood experiences are followed by pioneer paratrooper training and combat in Europe in World War II. Assigned as special agent, Kormann goes behind lines to apprehend Nazi war criminals and uncover a mass grave. As an Army Counter Intelligence Corps field office commander in Berlin 1945-47, he is assigned to track down Hitler's deputy, Martin Bormann, and American traitor, "Axis Sally." He foresees Soviet threat and coming Cold War, rescues a German scientist from Soviet NKVD in a case that made international headlines, and reveals Russian espionage and kidnapping efforts. As a State Department officer in 1950, Kormann is placed in charge of three counties in Bavaria in final days of American occupation of Germany, where requisitioning of land for NATO tank training area displaces thousands of Germans and creates an uproar. In Cold War assignments he is involved in historic actions: the Hungarian Revolution; international efforts to deal with Russians; the U-2 spy plane affair; and Berlin Wall. He served as political officer at Embassy Manila at onset of Marcos regime; as officer-in-charge at Embassy Benghazi, Libya, when it was attacked and burned during 1967 Arab-Israeli War; as deputy chief of mission at Embassy Cairo during Kissinger Middle East "shuttle diplomacy"; and on staff of George H.W. Bush when he was Director of Central Intelligence--Publisher's description.