Val Getty

Verner Getty is a character in the Eden Pond Series.

Biography

Val Getty is a master sergeant in the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps, assigned to the Oregon Coast at the start of World War II. He joined the U.S. Army on his eighteenth birthday in 1918, but never made it to France. He survived the post-war drawdown and made a career of military service. At the start of World War II, he had nearly twenty-four years of service.

Getty is tall with a narrow face, with sage eyes and brown hair. There’s a peppering of premature grey at his temples.

Getty is running a criminal operation whereby he steals supplies belonging to the army and sells them through the black market. He then uses the proceeds to buy agricultural land from Japanese farmers, using Jonah as his go-between. He's taking advantage of anti-Japanese sentiment and gambling that internment will happen. "A man in my position, more than twenty years in at terminal rank, needs to think about his future. I was a farmer as a boy. I can do it again."

In 1942, his pay was $193.50 per month, an amount he considers paltry. He's always supplemented his income with a little low level graft, but sees the war as a unique opportunity. He justifies himself with the argument that loss in wartime is common, he's not taking that much, and while he's lowballing his offers to the Japanese farmers, he's probably paying more than they'll get from someone else.

Appearances

• Tillamook Guerillas (working title), Eden Pond Book 1