John M Brewer

Journey of a Patriot John M Brewer

Chris Williams, from a conservative, middle-class family, graduates from medical school in 1970, at a time when his values are being attacked. His engagement breaks up because of this. He is sent to Vietnam as an Army doctor. One day his field hospital is attacked by the Viet Cong. Forced to defend his life and that of the patients and other medical workers, he picks up a gun from a fallen soldier and shoots to stop the attack. This action was seized upon by the liberal press and totally misrepresented back in the States. The Army pulled him off duty and sent him to Texas to disappear. He decides to take a job on night shift at a hospital in east LA, far from where he had his internship in St. Louis, hoping no one would recognize him from the papers. Hitch hiking there proved dangerous. Chris settled in as an ER doctor and found that he loved the variety and challenges. Eventually he is discovered and stalked while returning to his apartment by a quartet of young punks. To avoid publicity, he doesn't report the incident to the police. Instead, he waits until one night he sees their van parked outside the hospital with four joints glowing in the dark. He phones the cops and they make the arrest for possession with intent to distribute. Out on bond, they attack. His ROTC training proves handy. He falls in love with a patient, and after he marries her, his wife secretly betrays him. He starts climbing the administration ladder at the hospital. Years later, when politics changed, the Army called him back to finish his stint of duty in West Germany. Upon his return, he discovers his wife in bed with her lover. Will he ever find true love?