HALO is a military acronym for High Altitude Low Opening referring to military free-falling. It is an insertion technique used for clandestine insertion into denied areas of interest. The operative exits an aircraft from twenty thousand feet or higher and free-falls to about one thousand feet before opening their parachute. Jeffery Barkil is a young soldier who, after completing his training as an airborne Ranger, is recruited by the CIA, after which he spends six months training to run "black operations" in Southeast Asia. The story takes place between the years 1958 and 1961, a period between the French surrender and expulsion from Vietnam, and the U.S. admitting they had troops in the country. Sergeant Barkil takes you on eleven harrowing missions including his time as a prisoner of the Viet Cong. You are taken from one mission to the next as Sergeant Barkil comes to terms with being a hired assassin while at the same time carrying out his missions and fighting to stay alive.
I was born in a small farm town in Nebraska. Shortly after my birth, my Dad sold the farm and moved us in near Chicago so I could go to Shriner's Crippled Children's Hospital and have my club feet corrected. I spent nine months a year for the first five years of my life in the hospital undergoing surgeries.
My first two years in high school were in the seminary, until I decided I wasn't cut out for the priesthood.
I joined the Army right out of high school and spent nearly ten years in the Service. While on active duty in the Army, I competed nationally for a Division Rifle Team and was also a member of a Post Skydiving Team. I've made 1,400 Parachute jumps; over 1,100 of those jumps were free-falls from over 12,000 feet and 21 of the jumps were HALO jumps (HALO is a military acronym for High Altitude, Low Opening) meaning the jumper exits the aircraft from over 20,000 feet and is under 1,000 feet when the chute is deployed.
Since leaving the service I have been involved in the computer industry for nearly forty years doing everything from computer programming to Company President.
I have always been an avid hunter and enjoy the outdoors, especially when I'm in the woods or mountains. The idea for Bearkiller came to me while in the Wasatch Mountains.
I live in a suburb west of Chicago with my wife of 41 years.
DJ has written four action novels and three short stories for the Amazon Shorts Program.
