My new historical fiction novel Your Forgotten Sons, which will be released June 6th, 2024 in honor of the 80th anniversary of D-Day, tells the story of Sergeant Bud Richardville, a man who served in the Army’s Graves Registration Services in Europe during World War II. Right on the cover you’ll see the words “Inspired by a true story.” But what does that mean?
First let’s talk about what the book isn’t. Your Forgotten Sons is not based on a true story, because by definition “the expectations are that the characters, storylines, and a majority of the scenes that you present within the script are primarily based on actual occurrences.”
But that doesn’t mean Bud’s story is made up. The phrase inspired by a true story indicates that “it’s based on a real-life event, but that a lot of the characters and scenes surrounding it are fictionalized.”
In Bud’s case, the facts of his story are true. I utilized letters he wrote to family members, oral histories, interviews, and correspondences from the military to determine who Bud was and what happened to him. Sadly, his military records were not available, because in 1973 a massive fire raged through the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, destroying approximately 17 million official military personnel files. The records for servicemen and women who had been discharged between 1912 and 1960 were wiped away, the flames consuming 80% of the Army’s archives, Bud’s among them.
However, I was able to follow Bud’s path through Europe by utilizing the postmarks on his letters home, stamps that gave me dates and locations. Those postmarks, along with his letters, led me to believe that Bud was stationed in England just before D-Day, was part of the invasion at Normandy, was at the Battle of the Bulge, and was in Czechoslovakia when General George Patton’s Third Army liberated that country from the Nazis.
It was only when the book was going to press that I recieved a copy of Bud’s obituary which read, “He landed in France on D-Day and was with Hodge’s First Army as a member of the 606 Graves Registration Company. Action took him from France to Luxembourg, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and Germany.” So there it was. Proof that the postmarks had confirmed where and when Bud served.
When you read Your Forgotten Sons you will meet other soldiers in the GRS. They are entirely fictitious. Bud did not directly name the men he worked with, so I used my imagination. Nor is the woman Eva real. Though quiet family whispers suggested that Bud may have fallen in love with a woman while in Europe, nothing is known about her, so I created what I hope is a realistic character to serve in her stead. Note that all of Bud’s family members mentioned in the book were real people, as was Bud’s wife Lorraine, though she was shrouded in mystery even when Bud married her. While there is some historical information based on the real Lorraine, she remains an enigma.
I’ll admit that following Bud’s footprints was difficult, still I believe readers will understand my need to create scenes and dialogue that best represent the truth of Bud’s story. In the end, my hope was to remember a man who served his country well, a man who never came home, a man whose remains lie buried in the American Cemetery in Épinal, France, interred there by the soldiers who worked by his side.
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?
Join us at Changing Hands Bookstore in Phoenix on June 6, 2024, for the lanuch of Your Forgotten Sons. Find out more about the event here.
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Anne Montgomery’s novels can be found wherever books are sold.