Book 1 of the Kid Scorpion Trilogy told the story of Gus Bach taken from N.Y. at age three to Panama in 1907. His mother died when he was ten; he fared poorly in school; tried to runaway when 15; and dropped out of school at age 16 to sail the seven seas . One conflicted adventure follows another even after he married a young Panamanian lady. The couple has three children.
Book 2 picks up where Gus returned to the American Canal Zone in 1939 with his family following a three months cross country vacation to the U.S. By the time of Pearl Harbor, Gus' psychology changed. He seemed driven to directly enter the war, more so as his drinking eroded his family structure. Crises became the norm. With the marriage close to destruction, Gus applied to enter the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. Upon his graduation in early 1945, Gus saw limited action in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. He briefly reconnected with his family In Riverside County, CA while on leave after a tour in the Atlantic.
During that short visit he and Rose discussed relocating to the coast after war's end. Also, Gus arranged a going away party in which his brother-inlaw consumed far too much alcohol. (In a similar fashion Gus inebriated the bother-in-law's father in Iowa during the Bach's cross country vacation in 1939.) Consequently, when Gus again left the family in June of 1945 for his next naval assignment, the future sat uncertain for him and his wife. The parents, along with their children, will have to wait for WW2 to end before trying to make the coastal move a reality.