Local author, R.V. Little, Jr., will discuss his recent book, Three Cold Wars: A Vermont Citizen-Soldier’s Life In The Infantry, that chronicles the military life of his father, a Vermonter and long-time Jacksonville resident.
The book reveals a man who rose from the Great Depression and joined the Army National Guard as an Infantry private.
He then trained at Camp Blanding near Starke in 1941 to 1942, and later graduated from Officer Candidate School in Fort Benning, Georgia.
His following deployments in WWII and Korean War combat as an Infantry commander resulted in earning three awards for valor, two Combat Infantryman Badges and surviving three wounds.
Subsequent Cold War service in Troop Information and intelligence brought him to then West Germany, his third foreign Occupation Zone.
Ultimately, then Major Little retired to Jacksonville from 1963-2011 where he continued to work for the Army Reserve at the Naval Air Station.
Originally intended for family, the story follows the effects of a military life on a family and evolves into a military history of a valorous man and untold combat. Details are enhanced by the writer’s background, as well as extensive use of archives and battlefield research assisted by four Italian museums.
Listeners will accompany Little through all aspects of service and be introduced to how a military career unfolds – the training, personal life, separations, movement to combat, engagement, wounds, and even the paperwork battle.
Special emphasis is made on the subject’s three Purple Hearts to identify the exact enemy, define the wounds, and trace medical evacuations and recovery. The author also unravels examples of the difficulty in accurately discerning what occurs on a battlefield.
Accompanying the story are vignettes showing the bigger picture of history alongside the subject’s service.
The author has significant Vietnam and Cold War service in Intelligence and Infantry, and his eye for detail equips him to interpret a service career and combat actions.
Most of his 300 publications were published for the Defense Department, the President’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, and as a Jacksonville community news columnist. Multiple national awards allude to significant contributions in analysis of military forces and counterdrugs, as well as to Arms Control and National Intelligence Estimates.
Articles in the Army Times and U.S. Coast Guard Navigator further attest to the breadth of his military orientation.
He was commissioned at the University of Florida, formerly serving as a Coast Guard Auxiliary officer in Mandarin and Cecil Field, and he is currently a docent for the Camp Blanding Military Museum, site of his subject’s first year of federal service.
The book covers a number of aspects that affect military and Florida interests including history, the career path, and Army family life that are timeless. It is available on Amazon with 327 pages, color, 31 maps, over 100 photos, and indexed. Autographs are available at the presentation on June 12 at 3 pm, or by arrangement.
