Carl's Story begins in the woods near St. Mihiel, France, almost a century ago on September 16, 1918. On that victorious day, when the US Army won its first battle in Europe and the war was just days from ending, Carl Willig, a doughboy in company H and the uncle of author, Noretta Willig, was killed.

An eye-witness wrote Carl's parents that "he suffered no pain, my dear friends. Death was instantaneous." But Carl was lost. His remains could not be found. For three generations, his family felt the grief of that loss.

Then, ninety years after Carl's...

Carl's Story begins in the woods near St. Mihiel, France, almost a century ago on September 16, 1918. On that victorious day, when the US Army won its first battle in Europe and the war was just days from ending, Carl Willig, a doughboy in company H and the uncle of author, Noretta Willig, was killed.

An eye-witness wrote Carl's parents that "he suffered no pain, my dear friends. Death was instantaneous." But Carl was lost. His remains could not be found. For three generations, his family felt the grief of that loss.

Then, ninety years after Carl's...