Book Description

Crosses in the Wind, first published in 1947, is the first-hand account by the commander of the 611th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company during the Second World War in Europe. In an under-reported but vital part of the war effort, the Graves Registration Service was responsible for the massive task of collecting fallen soldiers, identifying remains, preparing bodies for internment, forwarding personal effects to families, and establishing military cemeteries across Europe. In addition to providing an overview of the major European battles, the book focuses on the activities of author Major Joseph Shomon, from the formation of his company at Fort Francis E. Warren in Wyoming, followed by the unit's transfer to England where they began processing D-day casualties, and then continuing eastward across Europe with the advancing U.S. armies. The book closes with the Company in southern France awaiting deployment to the Pacific theater, but after the atomic bomb drops on Japan and the subsequent ending of the war, the unit is broken up, with some troops returning to Germany and others to the U.S. Includes 30 pages of photographs and maps.