Reception: 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. | Event: 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
This event is free and open to the public. Register today to join us in person or to view the event online.

Join us in conversation with author Robert Edsel to discuss his latest book, Remember Us: American Sacrifice, Dutch Freedom, and a Forever Promise Forged in World War II, which explores the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands and its liberation by American forces. Drawing on never-before-seen letters, diaries, and other historical records, Edsel shows the painful price of freedom and the transcendent power of gratitude.

A reception from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. will precede the event, and Edsel will sign copies of his book following the presentation. Preorder your copy of Remember Us from the Museum Store.

For additional information, please email Connie Gentry, Conference and Programs Manager, at connie.gentry@nationalww2museum.org.

About Remember Us: American Sacrifice, Dutch Freedom, and a Forever Promise Forged in World War II

In the pre-dawn hours of May 10, 1940, Hitler’s invasion forces rolled into the small rural province of Limburg in the Netherlands, shattering more than 100 years of peace. Their freedom gone, the Dutch lived through four-and-a-half years of occupation until American forces reached Limburg in September 1944, the last portion of Western Europe liberated by the Allies before their advance on Nazi Germany slammed to a halt. Remember Us is an ensemble piece that follows 12 main characters over a six-year span, zeroing in on ordinary people like Frieda van Schäik, a teenager who falls in love with an American soldier; Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cole, the first member of the 101st Airborne to receive the Medal of Honor; and Sergeant Jeff Wiggins of the 960th Quartermaster Service Company, who escaped the poverty and racism of Alabama for yet another indignity—digging graves. In this rich, dramatic, and suspenseful story, Edsel captures both the horrors of war and the extraordinary measures the Dutch have taken to thank their liberators—a reminder that grief is universal, that humanity knows no national or racial boundaries, and that we all hope to be remembered.

About the Author

Robert M. Edsel is the New York Times #1 best-selling author of four nonfiction books, including Rescuing da Vinci, Saving Italy, and The Monuments Men (also with Bret Witter), which served as the basis for the 2014 film. Edsel has been honored with the Texas Medal of the Arts; the President’s Call to Service Award; the Hope for Humanity Award, presented by the Dallas Holocaust Museum; and the Foundation for the National Archives’ Records of Achievement Award. In 2022, the US Army and the Smithsonian Institution made Edsel an honorary graduate of the first Army Monuments Officer Training Program, an idea Edsel advocated for nearly 20 years. Edsel is also the Founder and Chairman of the Monuments Men and Women Foundation, and a recipient of the National Humanities Medal, awarded by President George W. Bush.