Gratitude Is Not Enough: The True Story of a Belgian Family Forever Changed by a Band of American WWII Soldiers

Gratitude Is Not Enough: The True Story of a Belgian Family Forever Changed by a Band of American WWII Soldiers

From first time author Tom Stein, comes the meticulously researched true story of a Belgian family forever changed by a band of American WWII soldiers. All proceeds from book sales will be donated to the Remember 39-45 Museum which figures prominently in the story. It was a crisp, clear day in November 1943 as ten-year-old Marcel Schmetz walked home from school along Route de la Clouse, Hitler’s new Belgium-German border. He was about to cross a small bridge over the Berwinne Creek. To his right, he saw an unassuming loaf of bread bobbing downstream in the creek. Then, peering further over the flimsy bridge railing, he saw her. A young woman was face-down at water’s edge with armed border guards standing over her. Water rippled slowly past her lifeless body, turning pink as it flowed into occupied Belgium. Marcel did not know that poor, young woman. But he did know of her likely desperation to try to smuggle food across the border for her family. For more than three years, Marcel’s family and neighbors had been deprived of their basic rights and fundamental needs for survival. No one knew liberation was still 10 months away, but Marcel’s family would persevere as they had for the previous three years. At the time, young Marcel couldn’t know the powerful, personal impact those liberating heroes from the famed American 1st Infantry Division would have on him, after they secured his town and later bivouacked on the Schmetz family’s farm. Nor could he dream of how he and his future wife, Mathilde, would dedicate their lives to keeping those soldiers, their sacrifices and their bonds alive for future generations to cherish. This is not a war story, although there are accounts of war. It is not an historic tome though historic events are described. It is the simple story of how war and history shaped a couple’s powerful love for each other, for strangers and for a people an ocean away. It also asks the question: How will their legacy of love continue after Marcel and Mathilde are gone? You will share the anguish of a young GI terrified at the idea of joining the front line and the anger of villagers discovering the corpse of a neighbor shot dead for having smuggled a sack of potatoes across the border. This work seeks to bear witness to those events of which history books do not speak and of which Marcel and Mathilde Schmetz, the M&Ms, have ensured will endure. Because for many years, the M&Ms have maintained the duty of memory through their museum-the Remember Museum '39-'45-in which they welcome Veterans of all wars and their families, as well as the simply curious and the schoolchildren. What this book tells above all is the great respect Marcel & Mathilde have for all the soldiers who, yesterday and today, like the M&Ms, have decided to dedicate their lives to others. I wouldn't have needed this book to fall under the spell of our two Clermontois (the M&Ms), who are never shy of a smile or a kind word. It was on the occasion of Memorial Day that we were first introduced. How could it be otherwise? We had a drink and a date to tour the museum, and that's where "our" story began. Yours starts now... Colonel Yves Limbourg, General Staff, Commanding Military Officer of the Province of Luxembourg, Belgium Author, Designer, Cartographer