john koelsch

What if your country started a war and when you answered the call to duty you discovered that not all of your enemies wore a uniform different from your own? What if your knowledge of enemies-among-friendlies increased ten thousand-fold the basic insanity already instilled by diametrically opposed priorities to “accomplish the mission” and “protect the troops”? Welcome to the Vietnam War and the conflicts of leadership experienced by Mickey 6, young 2nd Lieutenant and protagonist of the novel bearing his callsign as its title.

Readers of MICKEY 6 will journey with combat platoon leader Mickey through an incomprehensible war made more devastating by the unnecessary stresses of a power struggle between leaders within the hierarchy of combat command.

MICKEY 6 provides a rare view of war as examined in the stream of consciousness dialog between Mickey and Problem Solving Central, or PSC, his callsign for his conscience. Through detailed combat scenes and exquisite storytelling prowess, novelist John Koelsch brings the Vietnam War and all of its conflicts and glory to life as no author has done since Ernest Hemingway wrote about World War I.

In MICKEY 6, Vietnam Veteran John Koelsch’s carefully wrought characters, torn between duty and personal ethos, tread deeply into the circumstances that force payment of an eternal price from the souls and minds of those who serve, and from those who lead, as they fight for their country. With themes as applicable to the 21st Century warrior as to warriors from all eras, MICKEY 6 chronicles the struggles of leadership in war, of loss of humanity, and of the enduring spirit of those who must return to life from the ravages of war.

Novelist John Koelsch served as a Combat Platoon Leader in Vietnam. He was awarded a Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Bronze Star with “V” Device for Valor, and the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster. In 2009, 2010, and 2011 he placed in the National Veterans Creative Arts Competition.