Hessian John

About the Book

Continuing from Books I (Hessian John, 19th Century Military Surgeon), Book II (Hessian John, Army Surgeon in the Pioneer West), and Book III (Hessian John, Civil War Military Surgeon), 48-year-old former Mississippi plantation owner, Dr. Johann Walbrecht, in Book IV (Hessian John, 19th-Century Railroad Surgeon) faces harsh Reconstruction-Era land reform policies then turns to serve as a contract surgeon during the Union Pacific Railroad Company’s building of the transcontinental railroad where he encounters Arapahos, Sioux, and other Native tribes in the wild Wyoming Territory. During the vibrant post-war decade from 1865 to 1875, the United States grows rapidly westward fueling a rush of European immigrants hungry for land made available by the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroad Companies penetrating the former Indian lands beyond the Missouri River system. In this fourth of a five-book series, former military surgeon, John continues a mid-life journey though the spectacular and still-wild American West participating in major historical events that continued to influence his life as an experienced and practical pioneer surgeon.

About the Author

Colonel Don Walbrecht (the 11th pilot of the Mach-3 SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft) served 30 years as an Air Force officer, participating in advanced-aircraft development activities, leading Pentagon operational programming and budgeting matters, and holding transpacific and transatlantic staff and command positions. He earned three graduate degrees including a Ph.D. from the University of East Anglia in Norfolk, England and completed three professional military courses at the Air University in Montgomery, Alabama. He currently serves as Professor of Aviation Management for the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho where he supervises graduate-level military research projects. He is the author of three earlier books in this Hessian John series as well as a scientific-fiction poetic romaunt, On Silent Wing, and a doctoral dissertation, the Diplomatic History of U.S. Airpower in the United Kingdom.