A Vietnam War Novel - Part 2

Once I decided to write the novel I had second thoughts about making it a 'regular' war novel. I wanted to expand the possible base of readers beyond those in Special Forces who had served in Vietnam or had an interest in those who had served there. This is where Barry Sadler comes in. Most people who know of him only know him through the song, The Ballad of the Green Beret. Sadler also wrote about thirty-five books, twenty-three of which were a fictional series about "Casca, the Eternal Warrior". Casca, a Roman Legionnaire, stuck his spear in Jesus while Jesus was on the Cross. He was condemned to live forever for his transgression. Sadler put him in every war he could think of. Casca was in the Fench Indochina war, the Russian Front in WWII, a Japanese Samurai warrior, etc. At the end of the story, he would be lying in the mud, severely wounded, barely alive, but, he could never die. He'd be back in the next book. His research was excellent, his stories were great. I knew Sadler, he was in the medical class behind me in Special Forces Training Group back in 1963. That's also when he penned the song. Thinking about Casca made me realize that I could use someone like that and write several war novels. After some thought I came up with the answer: The historical Vlad Dracula, that's who I would use.