Journey to Peking

Book excerpt: Readers with a penchant for real-life cloak and dagger stories won't be disappointed with this memoir. Dan Pinck's World War II adventures behind the lapanese lines in war-torn China resulted in vital information being passed along to the Allies and his up close-and-personal look at the world of covert military operations in that country will fascinate many. But the author does not focus on the heroics typically encountered in spy stories. Pinck ignores the glamour to give a totally candid view of events with an engaging style and self-deprecating wit. Just nineteen years old when he volunteered for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), he was assigned to an area near Hong Kong where he worked with some twenty local agents. The sole American agent in the area, Pinck coordinated the gathering of information about troop movements and shipping along the Japanese-held coast, efforts that resulted in the sinking of several enemy ships. Prior to Japan's surrender he was mapping Japanese coastal emplacements in the area where an American invasion was scheduled.