The Spirits of Normandy

ON THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE D-DAY INVASION OF NORMANDY COMES THIS STORY OF A SMALL TOWN AND ITS DETERMINED “BAND OF BOYS”…
On a cold November night in an oddly abandoned 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, heartbreaking and horrific story of events in his life and hometown after war breaks out on December 7, 1941. By the eerie light of kerosene lanterns, their flames casting flickering shadows on the walls of a long-dead high school Principal’s office, Sam Harding shares the story of his 41 boyhood friends and fellow senior classmates — the "Spirits" of small-town Hillsville Crossing High School — who were seduced by the naïve sense of romance and adventure that war fever inflicts upon the young. The "Spirits are chosen for the 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, while back home, an entire town waits anxiously for news of their fate — 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, nearly brothers of the heart and soul, chronicles the feats of heroes and the crimes of villains. Available in print and ebook formats.