ONE DEGREE

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

synopsis

Synopsis

ONE DEGREE is an historical medical mystery thriller involving a fatal infectious illness that begins in the 1971 Vietnam wartime jungle. Five Vietnam Veterans who observed the illness first hand and others touched by it are followed in their stateside journey to define and irradicate this fatal gruesome disease. The veterans feel helpless to treat this disease first encountered in soldiers during the early 1970s, peaking globally in the mid-1970s, and essentially disappearing by 1975. A talented plastic surgeon, Claire Ferrier, tragically succumbs to this dormant illness after returning to the US from Cameroon in 1986. With great effort, dedication and original thinking the brotherhood of Vietnam Veterans spearheads the discovery of the disease's causation and eliminates this vile occurrence. Corrupt activities of Big Pharma in collusion with an influential US Senator are at the root of the causation of the disease.

bio

Author Biography

Dr. Gus Kappler served as a trauma surgeon during the Vietnam War at the 85th Evacuation Hospital ’70-‘71. His well-received 2015 memoir, Welcome Home From Vietnam, Finally, describes his surgical experiences and personal transformation. After his military service, Gus enjoyed a successful solo surgical practice in the small city of Amsterdam located in the majestic Mohawk River Valley in upstate New York. He and his family enjoyed hiking, camping, snowshoeing, hunting, kayaking, and photographing in the valley and the nearby Adirondack Mountains. Gus’s current historical medical mystery, One Degree, reflects his real-life knowledge gained in Vietnam, during solo surgical practice, living and recreating in the Mohawk Valley, teaching at Weill Cornell Medicine, and in understanding global politics. Through reading One Degree, he wishes to remind us of how morality, personal goals, and life choices may be complicated by the unique influences introduced by an unfamiliar environment. The reader is introduced to the development of PTSD, the condoning of corrupt practices, and the virulent pursuit of wealth and power.

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Author Insight

#17) Tsumani of Deception

After WWII, Truman supported French colonialism in Indochina. Eisenhower equipped the French fighting the Ho Chi Minh inspired Vietnam insurgents. With the French defeat in 1954, this President supported a division of Vietnam into two countries and chose to nation-build in South Vietnam. More and more US “advisors” arrived in South Vietnam. By 1961 twenty-five boys were KIA. The elected group of egotistical US decision-makers believed the inflated fanciful reports of the South Vietnamese generals. Equally deceptive US Saigon officials passed them on. One was the US Ambassador. Commanding General Westmoreland participated in the tsunami of wishful thinking, resulting in nearly 560,000 troops deployed by 1968. US and South Vietnamese forces repelled the enemy’s extensive January 1968 Tet Offensive, but the fact it occurred destroyed the delusional thinking of being victorious in Vietnam. By the end of 1968, almost 37,000 Americans were dead. There was the Kent State massacre. The anti-war movement grew. President Johnson replaced General Westmoreland with General Abrams. Not winning, but a graceful exit was now the goal. The soldiers knew the change. Who wanted to be the last to die. The fabric of the Army unraveled with disastrous results. Read Vietnam, An Epic Tragedy, Max Hastings and Dereliction of Duty, H. R. McMaster to learn of the deception that lead the US into the Vietnam War.

Book Excerpt

ONE DEGREE

In early 1968, there were coordinated countrywide attacks on major South Vietnamese cities during the Tet Offensive by the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong. This brazen accomplishment destroyed all credibility in our government’s claim that the United States and South Vietnamese military were prevailing in their effort to preserve the nation of South Vietnam. American forces repelled the enemy, but the fact that they occurred in the first place, with the full knowledge of the Vietnamese population in the cities and countryside, was a game-changer. We were not winning hearts and minds, officially referred to as Vietnamization, as our political leaders had directed. How could we expect to do so when American forces were burning and bombing Vietnamese homes and crops in addition to killing directly (VC) or indirectly (collateral damage), their brothers, sisters, parents, husbands, wives, and children.

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Gus Kappler MD FACS

ONE DEGREE

Synopsis

Author Biography

Author Insight

#17) Tsumani of Deception

Book Excerpt

ONE DEGREE

Comment on this Bubble