We received the following press release--RL

When it was first published more than thirty years ago, Anton Myrer's ONCE AN EAGLE was hailed as an epic tale of war and warriors as sweeping in scope as a Homerian journey. The book's searing, deeply-moving condemnation of combat along with its accurate, compassionate exploration of those who make war and peace, won it both critical and popular acclaim, landing it at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list twice, and in 1976, it was made into an acclaimed miniseries. Now, ONCE AN EAGLE, the book long considered within the Armed Forces community as one of the most important military novels ever written, is finally being reissued in a beautiful hardcover edition-- perfect for a graduation or Father's Day gift.

At the heart of ONCE AN EAGLE is Sam Damon, favorite son of Walt Whitman, Nebraska. Hardworking, fatherless, and gripped by dreams of destiny fueled by his incessant reading of military history, Sam wants nothing more than to attend West Point and become a career soldier. And when he leaves prairie life behind for trench warfare in the waning years of WWI, he distinguishes himself as a born commander, a man who puts duty, honor and the men he commands above self-interest.

Through the eyes of Sam Damon, ONCE AN EAGLE also provides a compelling and revealing look inside the closed traditions and the cruel difficulties of military life during peacetime. There is the daily struggle between duty and individuality. And there is the inevitable transformation of "The Old Army" into "The New Army," a changing of the guard exemplified by Damon's lifelong nemesis, Courtney Massengale, a ruthlessly political animal bent on control, who shoots to the top not through brilliant, instinctive leading but through aligning himself with Washington's top brass.

As it follows the arc of Sam Damon's life, the novel also chronicles the story of American warfare in the twentieth century, from a time when honor and rules were the way of the battlefield to the utter brutality and anything-goes chaos that marked the course of Vietnam. More than simply assessing that war is hell, ONCE AN EAGLE shows us why it's hell, through the raging fear, pain and terrible consequences of these people's lives--people who demonstrate that behind the flags and the medals lie tortured souls, broken hearts but undaunted spirits.

ONCE AN EAGLE might have remained one of the armed services' best-kept secrets if it were not for a front-page New York Times headline: MILITARY GOES BY THE BOOK--BUT IT'S A NOVEL. The Times revealed the depth of soldiers' feeling for Anton Myrer's book. General Shelton, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it's the only book he's ever read twice. "What would Sam do?" has become the watchword for guidance for both officers and enlisted personnel. Candidates for promotion are evaluated as possible "Sam Damons" or "Courtney Massengales."

HarperCollins saw the opportunity to bring a great American novel into the canon of modern classics with the new publication of ONCE AN EAGLE and hope that you share our enthusiasm in bringing this work to a new generation.

"ONCE AN EAGLE may be America's WAR AND PEACE and Anton Myrer a contemporary of Tolstoy." --Louisville Courier Journal

"A powerful, provocative and strongly-written novel . . . . and an implied warning to the nation . . . . One hopes that the Chiefs of Staff in Washington will read it with care." --Cincinnati Enquirer

"I fully understand why ONCE AN EAGLE has become a classic novel of war and warriors. Sam Damon doesn't preach, he lives his values and they are universal not only military." --General H. Norman Schwartzkopf, US Army Retired, Commander in Chief Desert Storm

"An ambitious, magnificently vivid novel . . . compelling. The battle scenes are among the finest I have ever read." --The Atlantic

"ONCE AN EAGLE has been the literary moral compass for me and my family of soldiers for more than two generations. Its ethical message is as fresh and relevant today as it was when Anton Myrer wrote it during the war in Vietnam." --Major General Robert H. Scales, Commandant, US Army War College

"The author's description of the military mind and muscle at work in combat and out are quite realistic . . . reading this book will be a great experience for those who haven't experienced what the author writes about so colorfully." --David M. Shoup, General, USMC

HarperCollins; ISBN 0060196963; Hardcover; Pages: 960; $25/$37.95 (CAN)

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