Publisher's Synopsis
Tommy Martin enters the U. S. Army as an infantryman. He and 15,000 US troops land in Marseille under hectic and nerve-racking conditions. Those who survive begin the long walk to Munich, experiencing battle victories along the way, as well as further loss of fellow soldiers that total close to half of those that set foot in Marseille. During the last few months before discharge Tommy is assigned to Munich, the location of Hitler's Führerbau. There he is ordered to protect priceless works of art that Hitler had stolen until the items can be turned over to the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives personnel. During that time a Sergeant in Tommy's platoon finds in the basement many personal items that belonged to Hitler; for example, two gold plated luger pistols inscribed to Hitler, a gold/ruby ring with a swastika and an ordinary looking desk with Hitler's initials and a swastika. Tommy takes an interest in the desk set and is given authorization to send the object to his parents as a War memento. In partial retirement, 40 years after World War II ends, Tommy Martin watches on television a RKO newsreel documentary that draws attention to Hitler's missing desk set, the far from ordinary item that was used to sign the 1938 Munich Pact. The narrator indicates the item has probably been destroyed, but if it still exists it is priceless. Tommy realizes he owns the lost item. Against the wishes of his wife he decides to find the value of the item. He teams up with his son and then later on meets a man who completes his inner circle. Disappointing leads and a trail of tears lead them nowhere as the trio runs into people who attempt to take advantage of them.
