Liberators: A Novel of the Coming Global Collapse

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Special thanks to Mrs. X., who articulated the dilemma of those trapped in and near the D.C. Beltway, bound by golden handcuffs.

Also, thanks to “Joe Snuffy.” Despite having his own successful career in military intelligence, and many job offers, he chose to live a simpler life, and avoided the golden handcuffs.

This book’s title is a shared homage in honor of:

• The veterans of the U.S. Army Fourteenth Armored Division (“The Liberators”);

• Those who designed and built the Consolidated B-24 and PB4Y-1 “Liberator” heavy bombers;

• The aircrewmen who flew B-24 Liberator bombers in World War II. In particular, I thank Lt. Col. Alvin G. “Al” Millspaugh, whom I met when I was a teenager;

• George Hyde, the German-born designer of the American FP-45 Liberator pistol made during World War II;

• And Cody Wilson, the inventor of the twenty-first-century “Liberator” 3D-printed pistol.

This novel is also dedicated to the memory of famed cattleman Richmond P. Hobson Jr., the author of Grass Beyond the Mountains, which describes the early cattle ranch settlement of the interior of British Columbia in the 1930s. The largely roadless country north of Anahim Lake is still one of the last frontier regions in North America.

I also want to express my thanks to the many other folks who encouraged me, who contributed technical details, who were used for character sketches, and who helped me substantively in the editing process. They include: Fred Burton (a former DSS counterintelligence agent, now Stratfor’s vice president for intelligence), Roxanne B., Frank B., Dave B., Cheryl, Mr. C. in Cocolalla, the DCS Guy, E. in Afghanistan, Erin in Bella Coola, Frank and Fern, “Enola Gay,” Harry, Josh H., Buddy Hinton, Hugh, Jeff C., Jerry J., the intrepid float-plane pilot Rob J., Reggie Kaigler (“DEMCAD”), Steve K., “Ken and Terry Layton,” Norm of Anahim Lake, Mr. O. of the Secwepemc, J.I.R., Patrice, Randy R., S. in Kamloops, Brian S., Tamara, an unnamed fellow ASA veteran, and an unnamed defense attaché.

Last, but far from least, my sincere thanks to my editor at Dutton, Jessica Renheim, for her amazing skill in making my scribbling seem coherent.