Alabama soldier featured in World War II book ‘Remember Us’

NASHVILLE –What happens when you lose your freedom and the people who eventually get it back for you are no longer alive to thank?

From No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Robert M. Edsel, comes his highly anticipated next book, “Remember Us: American Sacrifice, Dutch Freedom, and A Forever Promise Forged in World War II,” releasing April 29 with Harper Horizon.

“Remember Us” begins in the pre-dawn hours of Hitler’s invasion of Western Europe on May 10, 1940, when his forces rolled into the small province of Limburg in the Netherlands, shattering more than 100 years of peace. After enduring more than four years of occupation, the Dutch people saw their freedom restored when American forces reached Limburg in September 1944. This marked the final portion of the Allies’ liberation of Western Europe before their advance on Nazi Germany was halted.

The book is a compelling ensemble narrative that chronicles the lives of 12 central characters over a six-year span including Lt. Col. Robert Cole, the first member of the 101st Airborne to receive the Medal of Honor; Sgt. Jeff Wiggins of the 960th Quartermaster Company, who escaped the poverty and racism of Alabama only to face a new indignity: digging graves in wartime Europe; and Frieda van Schäik, a teenager who falls in love with an American soldier.

“This book goes where other stories involving war have not,” said author Robert M. Edsel. “The heroism of our characters during air missions and combat is exceptional but more familiar. What about the courage of family members who fought their own emotional war back home? I wanted readers to know their story too. And who were the soldiers assigned the most gruesome but essential task of war? Their heart wrenching experience has gone untold until now. The gratitude Dutch citizens had for their American liberators that led to a unique promise to watch over them as their own, forever? Inspiring, heartwarming, and hard to believe, but true.

“More than anything, I want readers to meet my late friend Frieda who brought me to this story, a woman who fell in love with an American soldier and remained loyal to him until her last breath.”

In this rich, dramatic, and suspenseful story, the horrors of war and the transcendent power of gratitude are captured, showcasing the extraordinary measures the Dutch have taken to thank their liberators. Drawing on never-before-seen letters, diaries, and other historical records, Edsel shows the painful price of freedom, on the battlefields and inside American homes.

Adm. James Stavridis, 16th Supreme Allied Commander at NATO and author of “The Restless Wave,” a novel of World War II, said “’Remember Us’ is that rarest of books, a volume that transports the reader to a distant place and time and draws immense meaning from the past. By weaving together heroic personal stories of the Second World War with the pure devotion shown to thousands of fallen American soldiers in the Netherlands American Cemetery, Robert Edsel reminds us vividly of what Lincoln called the ‘mystic chords of memory’ that bind us together and lead us toward our better angels.

“This is a deeply moving work of art, and one you will indeed remember long after you put it down.”

“Remember Us” will be available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook. To pre-order, visit https://www.robertedsel.com/.