All You Do Is Fight

 

cover art by Walter Baumhofer

A few months ago, I reviewed one of the many Foreign Legion stories by J.D. Newsom that appeared in Adventure magazine. I enjoyed the tale enormously--it worked in terms of characterization, well-described action and overall atmosphere. So I tracked down some more Newsom stories and created my own little anthology by combining PDF copies into a single document. If I ever need to run off and join the Legion, I just need to bring my tablet with me and I'll have all the information I need to get by.

Newsom made the cover of the January 1935 issue of Adventure with the excellent novella "All You Do Is Fight."

Newsom's Legion tales often followed a similar pattern, in which someone is forced to join the Legion and ends up doing something heroic by the finale. But the variety of characters he gives us and his ability to make those characters seem real allows each story to work well on its own. In "All You Do Is Fight," the protagonist is an American gangster named Barney Walsh. He's in Paris with a fair amount of money and thinks of himself as retired. But his old comrades from the mob don't approve of this and he only barely avoids an assassination attempt.

So he joins the Legion to get away from any hitmen who may come looking for him, using Barney as his last name. But he's an unusual recruit in several ways. Primarily, he has a lot of cash on him. While on the train to the Legion training center, he treats himself to dinner and booze in the first-class dining car.

He might have gotten away with this if he hadn't ended up picking a fight with a lieutenant. 

The remote desert outpost at which both men are assigned is a mess, with an inefficient commanding officer and out-of-control non-coms who are crushing morale. So when Barney is assigned to a small patrol led by the lieutenant, he plans on deserting along with a couple of friends. But when they are attacked by an overwhelming force and the lieutenant proves to be a good leader, Barney opts to stick around awhile. 

The finale is a bloody Last Stand that is truly exciting.

My summary leaves out a number of fun character moments and there is a strong theme about the difference between effective discipline and mere brutality, all of which adds to the overall quality of the novella, "All You Do Is Fight" is high-quality storytelling from start to finish.

You can find this issue of Adventure online HERE.