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I'm grateful...

It has been a thrilling experience to see my first book published in the past couple of months – especially this book. It took several years to complete and I believe this story needs to be told.

One aspect of publishing my book I did not anticipate was the heartfelt feedback I’ve received from people who purchased the book - and apparently read it within days of receiving it.

I am humbled and grateful for these and other comments from readers. Your thoughtful comments about how the US honored our WWII veterans through the Return of the Dead Program make me proud to be an American.

I hope you enjoy reading some of the comments below.

P.S. Many of you have asked how you can get a signed copy. Please check your inbox later this week; I will send you a link where you can buy a signed copy directly from my web site.

To honor their sacrifice—
Bill


"Is this much to ask, considering they took all I had in the world. My whole life's work. Would it be asking too much to have just one son's remains back, that I might lay a few flowers on it, to ease just a small bit of pain?"
 
~Tessie Fast, mother of Guido and J.B. Fast ("Return of the Dead from World War Two," Chapter 22.

Reader comments

Bringing back your loved one killed during WWII to be buried near their family or leaving them overseas with their buddies in an American cemetery on foreign soil is a question that tore at the hearts of many American families in the late 1940s. Bill Beigel's book, "Buried on the Battlefield? Not my Boy: The Return of the Dead from WWII examines the US Government program which asked that question to hundreds of thousands grieving family members. He details the issues of the Government and Military, and the very emotional dilemma of the family members who wanted their loved ones to come home. He tells the story of several individual soldiers and their families and why their remains were brought back or stayed overseas.

This book is particularly interesting to me because my father was part of the program to bring the WWII bodies back to the US. After serving in the 3rd Infantry Division from 1943-1945, he returned to the Army in 1947 as a military escort for the bodies from a port of entry to their final resting place. I didn't know much about the program and there is very little information out there about it. Bill Beigel researched the program and used his writing ability to make the story interesting. He personalized it with the untold stories of several soldiers and their families.

We have over 70 years of distance between us and the traumatic events and personal losses of WWII, but there are still people suffering from those losses even today. I met a brother of a soldier buried in Epinal American Cemetery a few years ago that made the trek to France to visit his brother's grave. He was grateful for the care that his brother's grave has been given by the US and the French people.

I have visited other soldiers from my dad's WWII company who are buried in their home towns near still-living family members. It's a personal choice of the family as to where their loved one should be buried and there is no right or wrong answer. This is one of the points that Bill makes very effectively in his book.

I highly recommend this book to any student of WWII or anyone interested in the social history of our country. It's well written and fast moving. You will definitely pause during your reading and consider what you would do if you were in the family's shoes.
– James
The first part of this book details an incredible U.S. historical program that most people do not know about and is not taught in our schools. The second part of the book covers the poignant personal stories of our war heroes and their families who struggled to bring closure to the ultimate sacrifice of those Veterans. Highly recommended. – Chaz
Just received my copy. My dad got his book last week and really enjoyed reading the chapter on his father. Thank you so much, Bill, for writing this book. It has provided many answers about what truly happened to my grandfather during the war and a sense of closure for my dad. – Janine
Bill, I immediately bought your book upon receipt of this e-mail. It is a fascinating read, and a must for any WWII buff. Especially those who lost loved ones in the war. The family examples you have in the book made the entire process less clinical and much more real to the reader. You researched my KIA uncle Thomas some years ago and the information brought me closer to the man I never knew. – Bruce
Your book is a story that needed to be written as I personally didn’t know that we are the only nation that does that….Thank you for a great book, your research for my father’s story and the pages I got which I would never have gotten from the archives. This was a story of a few but it touched not only those 20 lives but thousands such as mine. – Everett
Buried on the Battlefield - Not My Boy: The Return of the Dead from World War Two 
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