Overview

This is a work of fiction. All the individuals who move through these pages are fictional characters, created to serve a narrative. However, this story is firmly rooted in historical reality. Portugal in the 1960s and early 1970s was a poor, rural country under an authoritarian regime. It is a matter of historical record that thousands of young Portuguese men from the countryside left their villages to find work in the growing tourist industry of the Algarve. Many were teenagers. They worked in hotels that catered to foreign visitors escaping colder societies. It is equally true that the atmosphere of sun, anonymity, and temporary freedom led to numerous romantic and sexual relationships between these young men and foreign tourists. For some, these encounters were fleeting. For others, they were formative, even life altering. It is also historical fact that the vast majority of these young men were later conscripted into the Portuguese Armed Forces. Between 1961 and 1974, Portugal fought a prolonged and brutal series of colonial wars in Africa, across Angola, Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau), and Mozambique. Over thirteen years of continuous conflict, more than ten thousand Portuguese soldiers were killed, and many tens of thousands more returned physically wounded or psychologically scarred. Within the Portuguese Army, the Parachute Regiment did exist exactly as described, a volunteer force composed of men who were already required to serve but chose, for many different reasons, to attempt entry into one of the most demanding units in the armed forces. Selection and training were exceptionally harsh. Most volunteers did not pass. Those who did, earned a reputation for toughness, discipline, and operational reliability. Paratroopers were often used as elite rapid reaction troops in the most dangerous sectors of the war. They were elements of the special forces. Many of the battles and operations described in this novel are real historical events, including but not limited to: The Battle of Como Island in Portuguese Guinea. The attack on Bissau Airfield. Operation Green Sea, the Portuguese raid on Conakry. The fall of Guileje. Numerous counter insurgency operations in eastern, northern, and central Angola. The political end of the war is also historical fact. On 25 April 1974, the Portuguese Armed Forces staged a military coup known as the Carnation Revolution, that overthrew the regime and brought an abrupt end to Portugal's colonial wars. Equally grounded in reality is the portrayal of the French Foreign Legion. Its selection process, training, discipline, and internal culture are historically accurate. The Legion's parachute units, particularly the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment, are widely regarded as among the most demanding elite formations in the world. Several of the Legion's real operations appear in this novel, including: Operations in Chad during the Chadian Libyan conflict. The Loyada hostage rescue mission. The Battle of Kolwezi a large scale airborne operation to rescue civilians, during which the Legion suffered real casualties and achieved international recognition The events in this novel are inspired by these historical realities, though its actions remain fictional. This is a story about love, found and then lost, and the unbearable pain the loss causes. This novel does not seek to glorify war. It seeks to understand what prolonged violence, loss, and unhealed love can do to a human being, and how history, indifferent to individuals, can still shape and destroy lives with ruthless precision. What follows is imagined. The world it moves through is not.

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