The Camp Follower

We All Thought That the Cook Was the Spy

7th Infantry 6th Army SHAPE 18th Airborne MAAG Division Corps Viet Nam Combat Units Imagine growing up into your late teenage years thrown into a strange environment surrounded by the aftermath of the most horrendous war in history. Approximately seventy one million people died on all sides and the war caused the largest historical property damage. John Taylor grew up in that environment. He was an eyewitness to the rebuilding effort in postwar Europe; and the US support of the government of South Viet Nam in pre-war Viet Nam. He also lived in different areas in the US. In Europe he and his family lived in five cities in three countries in four years. His father, an Army officer, had assignments originating from some of the financial procedures for the establishment of NATO in Mediterranean countries, as well as acting as the Comptroller for the US military assistance group in Viet Nam. His father was the first Finance Officer to be qualified as an airborne parachutist. This story follows the life of John during his adventures travelling around the world and is a biographical account of his family including his fathers career. In Johns later teenage years he had the experience of travelling throughout Asia by himself. His last experiences in the story were his experiences on John Steinbecks Cannery Row in Monterey California during the late fifties.