Curated Texan
REMEMBER US, A Love Letter Across Time and Nations, Is The Newest Book About The Greatest Generation
By Rose Betty Williams Photography courtesy of Robert M. Edsel
Robert M. Edsel, the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of The Monuments Men, Saving Italy, Rescuing Da Vinci, and The Greatest Treasure Hunt in History, has once again delivered a masterwork of historical storytelling with his new book, REMEMBER US: American Sacrifice, Dutch Freedom, and a Forever Promise Forged in World War II. He recently appeared at Austin Country Club in a co-hosted event with The Headliners Club to speak about the book.
REMEMBER US is a profoundly compelling, meticulously researched and vividly rendered history that takes readers to the small Dutch province of Limburg, tracing its brutal Nazi occupation, the courageous American liberation that followed, and the extraordinary legacy of remembrance that endures to this day. The book is not just a chronicle of wartime events or battlefield strategies; it’s a tapestry of lives, real lives, intertwined by fate, circumstance, and conscience. Robert Edsel tells the stories of twelve unforgettable individuals: ten young American soldiers and two Dutch women.
The American soldiers, Black, brown, white, American Indian, Christian, and Jewish, hailing from farms, cities, and small towns across the United States, embody the youthful bravery and moral clarity that freedom is not free. They are ordinary men—sons, brothers, husbands—who are asked to do extraordinary things in unimaginable conditions. Robert Edsel captures their courage and sacrifice. Their loss is not abstract. It is personal, permanent, and honored.
The two Dutch women whose lives are upended by the Nazi occupation stand as living testaments to endurance, resistance, and resilience. Edsel describes their day-to-day struggles under the constant threat of oppression and violence. Yet, even amid deprivation and fear, malnutrition and illness, their stories are threaded with acts of courage, hope, and humanity. They remind us that the civilians who lived through the war, especially the women, were not merely bystanders, but active participants in the battle for life and liberty.
One of the most striking elements of REMEMBER US is Edsel’s account of the Dutch “Adopt a Grave” initiative. After the war ended, the local population of Limburg—still reeling from the devastation—chose not to forget. In a gesture of overwhelming grace and gratitude, they began adopting the graves of the thousands of American soldiers buried at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten. These were not symbolic gestures. These are solemn and ongoing commitments – maintaining the graves, laying flowers, researching the lives of the fallen, and, when contact information is available, letting their American families know where their loved ones are buried, that their graves are cared for, and that their sacrifice will be honored and remembered. Adopters have passed this sacred responsibility to their children and grandchildren, ensuring that the promise of remembrance stretches across generations.
Edsel movingly documents that no American grave in the Netherlands has been untended since the spring of 1946. More than 8,200 white marble crosses and Stars of David remain immaculate, each a silent monument to the cost of liberty and the power of gratitude.
Throughout it, Robert M. Edsel masterfully articulates the price of freedom, that remembrance is an act of love and duty, and that even in the depths of war, acts of humanity can comfort, connect, and define us. He reminds us that behind every cross in a cemetery is a story worth telling, and that gratitude can bridge oceans and generations.
This book is moving, packed with information, and most of all, profoundly memorable. It is heartbreaking yet inspiring, hopeful, and all true, and I can’t stop thinking about it.
5*: Highly recommend!
