We Stand Alone

A Novel Based on a True Story of the Siege of Dien Bien Phu

It wasn't his war… not yet.  The American pilot, Tom Coyle, had already fought in two wars and had no desire to fight in a third when he was hired by the French Airforce to fly cargo missions. "No combat, just cargo" was what the contract read. His job was high pay and low risk when compared to the bomber missions he flew in World War II and Korea… and that was way he wanted keep it.

All that changed when Coyle met Brigitte Friang, a French war correspondent assigned to cover the courageous paratroopers jumping into the northern highlands of Vietnam.  Constantly on the move in the most dangerous of places, Brigitte was not the easiest girl to court, but Coyle was inexplicably drawn to her and determined to win her over. Things became even more complicated when Brigitte discovered that the commander of the para battalion she was sent to cover was her former lover and fellow French resistance fighter, Major "Bruno" Bigeard.  The two rivals in the unspoken love triangle soon become friends when both struggled to protect Brigitte as the battle raged.

But time was running out for Brigitte, Coyle and Bruno as the Viet Minh closed in on the French garrison to cut it off from the outside world. Bound by duty, Brigitte was determined to stay and Coyle was forced to choose between surrendering his quest to win Brigitte's heart or joining a fight that could end with his ultimate sacrifice.

Powerful and compelling, We Stand Alone is an epic war novel written in the tradition of "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and "From Here to Eternity", but with the modern intensity of "Matterhorn." Indochina was a neglected crystal ball that became the war before the war. This is the story of the final and tragic battle in the valley of Dien Bien Phu.

"We rarely learn from war… but we should." - The Author, David Lee Corley