Jungle Orchid

Based on a true story of three guys, three girls, and one war; Jungle Orchid is a romp through choices everyone makes without realizing the implications. Rowdy is an eighteen year old who drops out of high school at the urging of his girlfriend who believes that communism must be stopped in Vietnam before it overruns the world. Like America's invasions of Iraq and Iran, this is America's crusade like the medieval Christians stopped the Muslim invasion. On it's surface, Jungle Orchid is about a simple country boy gone to stop oppression and free the people. But this is no ordinary romantic war story - Jody is waiting. With the romantic idealism of Don Quixote, Rowdy becomes a helicopter doorgunner, the most dangerous job in the Vietnam War. He is killing communists for Christ with the bravado of a teenage boy. His windmill comes in the form of the ancient sacred Bodhi tree, the same species that Siddartha meditated beneath to become the great Buddha. Jungle Orchid is shocking, brutal and gruesome as it reveals the core reasons that the United States lost the Vietnam War. "Ain't no use in looking back - Jody's got your Cadillac. Ain't no point in feeling blue - Jody's got your woman too." The title of the novel refers to the chants boot camp instructors use to drill in to the young men they have lost everything to this Jody. Recruits have no friends, no relatives and noone left but the military. Jody is the guy who slips into your place while you're off fighting for your country and helps himself to your girlfriend. But who is Jody really? What of yours did Jody take? And how is it you were seduced or tricked by Jody? Is the Native American Coyote, the trickster, who uses our desires, our fears, and our greed to teach us the hard lessons of life. It is our own thinking that allows us to be tricked, even as Don Quixote deluded himself into believing he was out to save the world. The themes in Jody's Got Your Cadillac, beautifully interwoven in the story, are timeless themes that transcend era, gender and culture. Readers connect with the characters as they attempt to discover life's truths or invent their own. Truth, delusion, seduction and betrayal are part of our protagonists' journey of discovery, discoveries we are ill-equipped to grapple with as we navigate life. While Jody is taking what should be ours, like Don Quixote, we are deluded by idealogy and comply with the truths of others. As Rowdy is to discover, where the truth is fluid, where illusion is used for manipulation and selfish gain, betrayal will always be there. While there are parables inside Jody's Got Your Cadillac it does not set out to preach. As much as anything the reader will delight in floating along the surface laughing out loud frequently, crying nearly as often and engaging with the deeply layered, fallible, but ever so likable characters. On a deeper level the reader will recognize the perils of the schizophrenic nature of American culture. Through the journey of Rowdy, Big Easy and Owl, society is personified as having all the characteristics of a restless, rebellious teenager. A story of romance, lost virginity and impulsive choices, you will laugh and cry in this thrilling tale of unforeseen twists and turns. Not for the weak and easily offended. Jungle Orchid speaks the bloody truth of why Vietnamese communists kicked butt on the greatest superpower on earth. It may fortell the outcomes of the U.S.'s current Middle East wars. The timeless themes of love, illusion, seduction and truth are accessible via the characters and the narrative. This is a story that will leave the reader feeling enriched, reflective and very satisfied. It is truly a rollicking page turner, full of surprises, and so richly descriptive. Jungle Orchid is book two of Jody's Got Your Cadillac. The series is destined to revitalize American literature and is crafted to engage a global audience.
About the Author: Ron Kop was a free lance writer and award-winning photojournalist who journeyed with former President Jimmy Carter. On April 3, 2014, the author died from agent orange induced prostate cancer that metastasized into his bones. The U.S. government denied medical benefits despite his service in Vietnam as a helicopter door gunner. His best friend, Dan Doyle, made a death bed promise that he would finish Ron's Jody sagas. Dan is an English teacher and psychologist who authored When Kids Know Why They Try along with a multitude of articles for parents and teachers. Ron and Dan talked about Jody for 44 years. They are great stories. They're funny, sexy and romantic. At times they are so intense they make you want to intervene with the characters, and they're always thoughtfully written. Although Ron was a journalist, editor, newspaperman and an excellent writer, he couldn't wrap his head around the Jody stories. It was just too personal. Where to start? Where to end? What point of view, what voice should be used? What characters? On and on. Often, the Jody sagas were too emotionally difficult for Ron to talk about, no less write. Nineteen years after he returned from Vietnam, Dan got him drunk enough. It took several bottles of red wine, a roaring fire and an attentive audience to get Ron to tell the hardest parts. Dan taped and transcribed it, but Ron still couldn't put it on paper. Heart wrenching. Jungle Orchid is the second installment in Jody's Got Your Cadillac saga that will leave you wanting more.