The Spirits of Normandy

By F Mark Granato

ON THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE D-DAY INVASION OF NORMANDY, THE BATTLE FOR CONTINENTAL EUROPE AND THE DEFEAT OF THE NAZI'S, COMES THIS STORY OF A SMALL TOWN AND ITS DETERMINED "BAND OF BOYS"... In a strangely abandoned and boarded up high school in a deserted small town in Pennsylvania, an elderly, crippled and heartbroken Veteran of WWII recounts for his two grandchildren and a Pittsburgh reporter a poignant yet heartbreaking and horrific story of events in his life and hometown after war breaks out on December 7, 1941. On a cold November night, by the eerie light of kerosene lanterns, their flames casting flickering shadows on the walls of a long dead high school Principal's office, the D-Day survivor, Sam Harding shares the story of his 41 boyhood friends and fellow senior classmates - the "Spirits" of small town Hillsville Crossing High School - and their eagerness to join the fray and to fight in the war together. Seduced by their na ve sense of romance and adventure that inflicts the young with war fever, they are convinced by the Principal to remain in high school for their final semester to graduate as the price a local Army recruiting sergeant demands to arrange for the 42 boys to train and join the battle together. The "Spirits" endure nearly two years of intensive training and are selected to join the new and elite 2nd Ranger Infantry Battalion - destined for the most infamous mission of D-Day history: the assault on the 100-foot high cliffs of Pointe du Hoc, the most strategic target of the Normandy Invasion. The "Spirits" take on the impossible - if not suicidal - mission without a whimper. Back home, the small town of Hillsville Crossing waits anxiously for news of their fate in Normandy... a wait made worse by a conspiracy to hide the truth. "The Spirits of Normandy" is a telling look at the innocence of youth, the horrors of war, the unthinkable near collapse of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, and the incredible individual acts of courage and bravery that turned the potential disaster of "Operation Neptune" into a victory at a most appalling price. At its heart, this story of a young man and his heroic friends, near brothers of the heart and soul, is an historical chronicle of the feats of heroes and the crimes of villains.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1096281864
• ISBN13: 9781096281863
• Release Date: May 2019
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 322 Pages
• Weight: 1.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"