***Approximately 73,000 Allied troops died during the Battle of Normandy. Did you ever wonder where all the bodies went?***

There’s no way to sugarcoat it. My new historical fiction novel Your Forgotten Sons, which will be released on June 6, 2024 in honor of the 80^th anniversary of D-Day, is necessarily gruesome. For those who have seen the first 24 minutes of Saving Private Ryan, or Apocalypse Now, or the more recent 1917, the violence of war is hard to ignore.

But can there be too much carnage in our artistic representations of battle? That probably depends on who you ask. I sense many young people, raised on bloodbath video games like Resident Evil, Mortal Combat, and Grand Theft Auto, might not find the graphic vestiges of war a big deal. Yet today’s average TV viewer—sheltered from the actual violent aftermath of crimes and war and natural disasters by anchors who warn them that “the following video might be disturbing” only to see anything remotely upsetting blurred out on the screen—perhaps might disagree.

The problem for me was trying to mitigate the horrors those in the Graves Registration Service experienced in World War II without discounting the morale-destroying realities of the consequences of battle. The job of the GRS was simple but ghastly: retrieve, identify, and bury the dead. Think about that for a minute.

For Sergeant Bud Richardville and his men who served in the GRS during the invasion of Normandy, the incredible brutality of the Battle of the Bulge, and beyond, their jobs were no doubt horrifying. It’s interesting, I think, that the efforts of these soldiers who labored to literally piece fallen soldiers back together to discern who they were in life and then lay them to rest in the elegant cemeteries they built, have been dismissed from history. Don’t believe me? When was the last time you even caught a glimpse of anyone in a movie caring for the dead. I’m guessing almost never, as war movies are about shooting and exploding bombs, fast-moving tanks and fighter planes, but rarely about the carnage left behind.

Not surprisingly, those who’ve served in the GRS have the highest rates of post-traumatic stress disorder in the military, psychological pressure that follows them the rest of their lives. And yet, they have rarely gotten praise for the grueling duties they performed. I read one startlingly sad description of a convoy of GRS soldiers who drove down a road in France where they encountered a unit of American soldiers. When those troops realized it was GRS men bearing the dead in their trucks, the soldiers turned their backs and looked away.

Initially, my goal in writing Your Forgotten Sons was to tell the story of Bud Richardville and his service to our country. But in the end, I wanted to shine a light on all the unsung heroes who toiled in the Graves Registration Service, who, despite the horrors of the tasks they were assigned, did their jobs with grace and honor.

Your Forgotten Sons

Inspired by a true story

Anne Montgomery

Bud Richardville is inducted into the Army as the United States prepares for the invasion of Europe in 1943. A chance comment has Bud assigned to a Graves Registration Company, where his unit is tasked with locating, identifying, and burying the dead. Bud ships out, leaving behind his new wife, Lorraine, a mysterious woman who has stolen his heart but whose secretive nature and shadowy past leave many unanswered questions. When Bud and his men hit the beach at Normandy, they are immediately thrust into the horrors of what working in a graves unit entails. Bud is beaten down by the gruesome demands of his job and losses in his personal life, but then he meets Eva, an optimistic soul who despite the war can see a positive future. Will Eva’s love be enough to save him?