By Christopher Miskimon

When Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands in May 1940, it began four and a half years of brutal occupation. That occupation only ended through the sacrifice of thousands of Allied soldiers and airmen. Today, 8,200 of the American servicemen killed in that cause lie buried at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten. The names of 1,700 more are carved in the Walls of the Missing. Their stories are intertwined with other soldiers and civilians. This includes Frieda van Schäik, a Dutch teenager who fell in love with an American soldier; Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cole, the first member of the 101st Airborne to receive the Medal of Honor; and Sergeant Jeff Wiggins of the 960th Quartermaster Company, who left behind the poverty and prejudice of Alabama to be assigned to dig graves.

This new book tells the stories of 12 people who fought or lived through the carnage of the war. The author’s research pulled together various historical records, diaries, and unpublished letters to weave together a fascinating narrative of the sacrifices made to free Europe and the gratitude the Dutch have for those who sacrificed on their behalf.

Remember Us: American Sacrifice, Dutch Freedom, and a Forever Promise Forged in World War II (Robert M. Edsel, Harper Horizon, New York NY, 2025, 512 pp., maps, photographs, notes, bibliography, index, $31.99, HC)