Background
Smith, Charles Ronald Cooper was born on November 8, 1946 in Plainview, Texas, United States. Son of Otis Melvin and Jewell (Faith) Smith.
(During that long, hot summer of 1964, Ivan Smith, a merce...)
During that long, hot summer of 1964, Ivan Smith, a mercenary volunteer in the Arme'e Nationale Congolais, came to witness and understand fear, the law of the jungle and the lust for killing that permeates Africa. A member of 'Mad Mike' Hoare's 5 Commando Group he and his companions were nominally soldiers but there was little in the way of campaigns, tactics and discipline. Of conventional warfare there was none. Loyalty to country or unit did not exist and the fear of death was the only commander. Many more mercenaries died from an accidental discharge, in a drunken shoot-out or from a bullet in the back than were ever killed in action by Simba rebels. Nearly half a century later, Ivan Smith re-lives the nightmare that was the Congo. REVIEWS "...while Mad Dog Killers provides a superb historical context, it is also Smith's descriptions of the harrowing moments that invariably "feel like a lifetime" for a soldier of fortune that cuts to the core of the reader." Weekend Post South Africa
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/190767778X/?tag=2022091-20
Smith, Charles Ronald Cooper was born on November 8, 1946 in Plainview, Texas, United States. Son of Otis Melvin and Jewell (Faith) Smith.
Student, University of Americas, 1964-1965; student, San Antonio College, 1965-1966, 68; student, New School U., 1972-1974.
Photographer Lyncean Films, New York City, 1974-1978. Freelance photographer worldwide, since 1969. Senior assignment photographer Pacific Rim Photographers' Group, since 1990.
Writer, photographer Rainbow Production, New York, 1976-1982. Member Kodak Professional Network-ProPassport, since 1991. Broadcast journalist OmniWest Media, 1993.
(During that long, hot summer of 1964, Ivan Smith, a merce...)
Sergeant United States Army, 1966-1968, Vietnam. Member Society Professional Journalists, Professional Photographers of America Inc., Commonwealth Club, American Film Institute, International Platform Association.
Married Patsy Louise Edgar, November 25, 1974 (divorced June 1979).