What’s it like to reach out and touch history in the moment, to peel back the layers of hyperbole and political deception for yourself as a simple soldier? Try the Philippine-American War, sometimes referred to as the first Vietnam (1899-1902). You might find that desertion really means conversion to a noble cause and enlisting is just another form of surrender…

Three American infantrymen in the last months of major hostilities, the Filipinos all but beaten. Each man is quietly running from a prior life. One, a young corporal, naive and inexperienced, is hiding from a gallows in Pennsylvania. Another is a disillusioned Catholic priest, running from God and himself. The third is a proud Negro soldier from the 24th U.S. Colored Infantry, a man who has deserted the army to actively join the Filipino forces. Their lives intersect with a beguiling and mysterious young Filipina, a respected figure of inexplicable influence among her people. All four join forces to hold back the tide of greed and racially motivated barbarity from a ravenous Eagle.

One will die. One will find himself by learning that truth stands alone, wears no flag and employs no spokesman. The other two will live forever, legends in the minds and hearts of the Philippine people.