Bandits Below

Description

PAPERBACK EDITION

Marine Air-Ground Team In Pursuit of the Bandit Sandino

In 1927, the Marines first undertake integrating their air and ground forces in pursuit of the bandit, Augusto Caesar Sandino. Christian Schilt rises from the rank of private first class as a gunner in a biplane searching for German submarines, to a first lieutenant. He is the Marine Corps’s top pilot, earning a Medal of Honor in this final Banana War, and the only one capable of catching the bandit. Retold with narrative elements and dialogue, the true story, Bandits Below, brings to life historical accounts of the Marines, battles, and events that played a part in the chase for Sandino.

About the Author
LtCol David B. Brown served on active duty as an infantry officer from 1961-1982. During his 21-year career in the Marine Corps, Dave was an advisor and rifle company commander in Vietnam, instructed at the U.S. Naval Academy, and headed the Marine Corps Procurement Budget. His personal awards include the Silver Star Medal, Legion of Merit Medal, two Bronze Star Medals with Combat V, five Air Medals, Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V, and Navy Achievement Medal.

Upon retirement, from 1988-1995, Dave was a logistics consultant for the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy. During that time, he published over 15 articles in the Marine Corps Gazette and Amphibious Warfare Review; and authored books on training, automated information systems, and logistics.

In 1988, he accepted the request from the men of Fox Company, 2d Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment to be the initial President of the F/2/5 Vietnam Association and served for five years. Today, with 300 members having tight bonds, the association meets biennially.

From 1996-2008, he was an active North Carolina realtor and a townhouse developer in the Raleigh area.

From 2008-2014, he was the Executive Director of the Second Marine Division Association. With overlapping assignments, from 2012-2016, he was Executive Director the Carolina Museum of the Marine; then, from 2014-2016 chaired the Board of Directors of the Carolina Museum of the Marine.

His first novel, Battlelines, is an historical fiction written about the gallant men of Fox Company, 2d Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment during their five-year deployment to Vietnam. In 2006, Battlelines received the Military Writers Society of America’s Gold Award for Memoirs. Dave’s second novel, Bandits Below, is about the birth of the Marine Corps’ Air-Ground Team in Nicaragua during the 1920s. Dave is currently writing a third historical fiction – a sequel to Bandits Below. He holds an MBA from George Washington University and a BA from Denison University.

Dave and Julie Brown reside in Swansboro, NC. His son. Bill, served on active duty in the 1980s with 2/2-the Warlords. His daughter, Tiffany, co-wrote Battlelines.