ELCO: Follow the Men of Love Company begins in the trenches of war during World War II and introduces you to a motley crew of men in the “L” Company. As you meet each of the characters, some main characters and some not—though all important in their own way—you realize that war is handled differently by different people. We all have our ways to cope with death around us, and although wartime—though winding down—goes on for the men, they still have sense of completion; they feel the need to finish the job until they’re told otherwise.
Pranks, wisecracks, and the response to the death that surrounds each character differ depending upon personality. One is determined to leave with tons of silver coins confiscated from a “Jap Camp” they raided, certain to become rich with the end of the war. One can find a way to get just about anything you can imagine—the deal is you just pay the price and don’t ask how. The characters are shared in detail with the reader, giving you the opportunity to truly know each one as if you were truly there meeting them. As the war ends though, much like many war buddies, the men go about their own ways but always seem to keep in touch at some point. Ultimately, however, the they decide they will become a corporation called ELCO, named after their military unit “L Company,” and utilize their friendships to create an organization to disperse literally millions of dollars to various charities.
In the narrative of ELCO, it’s interesting to follow the lives of some of the men as they
move on to civilian life and become everything from a U.S. Senator to a crime lord. You’re led into the boardroom with one of the men who made his fortune from Wall Street to the unscrupulous behind the scenes of one of them who became a Porn King. Not wanting to give away who becomes what in ‘civie’ life, I’ll leave names out but the story is intriguing and touching as well. It’s hard to believe that these same men that kept their hard core exterior during the war realized how important it was to take their benefits in life to help others in the world. You’re touched with their stories, amazed by their paths in life chosen and never left without feeling a tug at your heart that this big burly group of men who made it in the war wanted to honor their company and those from their company that didn’t come home alive by become charitable beyond dreams.
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