Missing Palm Tree: Stories from America's Clandestine Service

Several decades ago, the author noticed a five sentence article buried deep in the newspaper about a government employee who had been severely wounded in the course of his work. A name, which he assumed was a pseudonym, and the town and state where the wounded man was where the only identifications given. The author wrote him a short letter thanking him for his service to our country addressed to the town and state without an address. He did not hope for a reply.

The author received an equal...