Recent focus on private paramilitary groups reminds me of one which I came to know through a series of books. The author told me that some Americans may fear a lack of government more than they hate government itself, a feeling often ascribed to them.
Today, indeed, groups may have turned on the government they have in the absence of the "evil empire" which they feared and anticipated for so long. Hate and fear can't last long without a target.
Sometime in 1983, when we all thought we knew our fears, my husband Don brought home a novel called "Out of the Ashes," by William W. Johnstone.
The hero Ben Raines is, like his creator, a retired soldier, mercenary, and adventure writer. Fictional conflict incinerates the world, and the "Ashes" series -- now 13 -- began, taking the reader along with Ben and his followers seeking secure peace.
The newest, "D-Day In the Ashes," gives Raines a challenge worthy of him; extending his kind of peace and discipline to the whole world.
Back when Don and I were following the series through "Fire," and "Anarchy" in the Ashes, I saw Ben's influence in small ways. The name, Ben Raines, appeared on computer bulletin boards. I heard it on the highways over CB radio. We were all, it seemed, looking for a hero.
Don and I liked the stories and Ben Raines' ideas. Finally, I wrote the author a letter in care of his publisher, Zebra Books.
We were amazed when the phone rang, and "Woody" Johnstone introduced himself.
"Jo wrote me an interesting letter," he told Don. The writer and I talked for a long while.
He said public reaction to his books was consistent: readers asked the publisher how they could sign up with Ben Raines.
There were even then organizations around the country preparing to repel boarders of the U.S. shores. They varied. Some fashioned themselves on Raines' "Rebels," others did not.
Johnstone tentatively explored some of the hard-core right-wing groups, he told me. It was not an altogether comfortable experience, even for someone with Johnstone's expertise.
"I put on my Levis, stuck my mouth full of chewing tobacco, got in my truck and went. Talked to some people. I could sense they were getting a little hinky, so I said, you know, au revoir!"
The "Ashes" series involves a post-disaster sub-division of the United States. Raines and his forces maintain a stern but orderly regime in a three-state area. The rest of the U.S. is held by a nervous remnant of government. Would a "Rebels" regime be allowed to happen in real-life? I asked. Possibly, for awhile, Johnstone supposed, but even the remnants of a national authority would not stand for dilution very long. Folks hoping to retain independence would face hard times.
"I can see how people can go off in these (paramilitary) groups," Johnstone said.
I asked if he felt that some groups perceive that nobody else is going to save them, so they have to save themselves.
"Yes, I do," he replied.
Johnstone's heroes and heroines are cut from one mold; smart, valiant, and unflinching in the righting of wrongs.
Somewhat right of center, Raines does not believe in supporting non-workers or others he views as irresponsible. "Liberal" is a bad word. Whiners and slackers get no time from Ben Raines and the men and women of his troops. Yet "Rebels" go to great lengths to help the young, the weak and the old -- the deserving. And they know the difference.
Raines' commanders in the field, in fact, never go wrong when they find and punish miscreants. There is no mistaken identity; no arrest based on prejudice. Justice is clear and swift. Whatever popular views are of today's camouflage-clad shooters, we, the readers, believe in Ben and trust his leaders.
Much of this belief is wishful, of course. We who live among mortal police authorities don't find such perfection, but don't we wish we could?
"Out of the Ashes," Johnstone said, was sent to his publisher as a one-time political statement.
"It never entered my mind that the thing would become a series. I just wrote the book, sent it in and --"Boom!"
Fans identify the author with the hero. They write his publisher asking if Ben/Woody will come and visit them; to teach them how to defend themselves. Johnstone says he is modestly conversant with survival techniques, but is certainly not setting up classes.
"I was talking to one of my editors today," Johnstone told me, "(the 'Ashes' series) is generating more mail than their romance novels."
Johnstone has misgivings about conditions in the United States. Despite the "Ashes" series' fiction plots, he does not forecast nuclear holocaust or even the horror of germ warfare. He believes the system might collapse from within, politically and economically.
At the time we talked, Johnstone feared severe depression. He foresaw that if government assistance were suddenly taken from the many households which now receive it, the reaction would be fear and hunger possibly leading to looting and anarchy.
Will Americans act to prevent this? I asked.
"Look at the record," he suggested. "We literally wipe species off the face of the Earth, and we continue to rely on oil. Americans tend to keep their heads in the sand, so to speak," Johnstone said. "Then they wander around wringing their hands saying 'Gee, how did this happen?'"
"We are living on faith, and I think it is going to collapse," he said.
How can a family prepare? I asked.
"Keep a thirty-days supply of food on hand," he replied. "Learn survival tips like keeping aspirin, water, non-electric lighting sources... "
But clearly, he thought the situation would be much too heavy for average people -- like Don and me -- to handle without Ben Raines and the Rebels nearby to bring order to "The Ashes."
Ben Raines, will you be here if we need you?
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P.O. Box 2309 Ocean City, MD 21842 jocee@shore.intercom.net Other Writings by Jo Campbell