Article 104 Aiding the Enemy

Article 104: Aiding the Enemy is the sixth novel in the series of military-legal mysteries recording the career of Charles Kimbrough in the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps and his romance with Matti von Beningsen. It is set in the [former] Republic of Vietnam (RVN) and describes the clandestine espionage activities of a young American soldier, the counterintelligence operations of both US and RVN Army agents, the soldier's apprehension and his court-martial. Although not based on real circumstances, the plot reflects the author's experiences, especially the combat actions, during his service in Vietnam. The American soldier, Mark Salzman, is the product of a family in which his parents are both active, covert Communists under the control of the Soviet KGB. He is led to enlist in the Army specifically to act as a penetration agent, and, as the book opens, he has completed two years in France in that capacity and is now working in a US Army detachment advising the armor center of the RVN Army. His work has resulted in Viet Cong successes until the counterintelligence agents discover him, provide him with false information, and offer him redemption to become a double agent. Salzman renegs on the agreement, is apprehended and is tried by general court-martial.