Memorial to the Dead — Charles Ray

The second book in the Al Pennyback mystery series; A Vietnam War vet comes to Al with an improbable story of a decades-old smuggling ring that has help from some high placed people in Washington. Al considers the man just a suffering derelict from the war and ignores him until he's found murdered in front of the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Wall. It then becomes personal. Al soon finds himself confronting a murderous Chinese gangster who wants him dead. Worse, it appears that high level law enforcement officials are in on the deal.