Shattered Days by Lee Trawick

SHATTERED DAYS

Finding Grace in the Endless Battle

BY

LEE TRAWICK

Genre: Historical Romance

Hosted By: Chance Promotions

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Finding Grace in the endless battle.

Inspire by a true story of Zara Grace and Thaddeus Grace during World War 2.

I would like to introduce to you all to the heroic acts of Thaddeus H. Grace and his crew of 6 Americans of a B-26 Marauder 9th U.S Air Force 391st bomb group 573rd squadron assigned to carry out their fifth bombing raid for the United States and Allied forces.

It was on this mission of March 19th 1944 where true heroics live, after dropping their bombs they over heard on the radio another plane was unable to drop their bombs. At this moment Sgt. Grace and his crew decided without hesitation to circle back around and assist their fellow bombers in completing their mission knowing the dangers of making a second Passover they flew slightly lower and to the left, of the plane still loaded with their bombs. In order to shield the loaded plane from any enemy fire directed at them. Just as the bombs were dropped Sgt. Grace and his crew were hit by enemy fire over Northern France.

At the crash site in Northern France in an open field on March 19th 1944 is where this story begins.

As only one of two survivors of his crew Sgt. Grace wakes up with no recollection as to who he is or how he ended up there. Confused by his surroundings, unable to gather his senses; he hears a voice calling out. Sgt. Grace stumbles towards the voice with blood pooling on his coat collar from a an obvious cut on his head. Upon reaching the voice calling out for help, his fellow crew member addresses him as Thaddeus Grace, this is the first he knows of his name. His crew member answers Sgt. Grace questions and warns him the Germans will be coming soon. Sgt. Grace soon hears the Germans coming from the tree line of the forest. While doing his best to fend off the Germans and save his crew members life and preserve his own, Sgt. Grace is shot and stripped of his belongings and anything of any value to the Germans as a trophy and left for dead.

Sgt. Grace wakes up to find his crew member had died from his injuries of the crash and he himself shot in the upper right chest. Without his field jacket, dog tags or anything that would verify his identification Sgt. Grace is left with nothing but a photograph tucked away in his left sock. The photograph was of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, still tired and weak from his injuries Sgt. Grace only has enough energy to bury his friend and crew members before passing out from the pain and lack of blood.

From this point Sgt. Grace is simply known as Grace or Thaddeus, there is no longer a Sgt. Title before his name. He was rescued by a local farmer of the village where just outside the village Grace's plane had come to its final resting place. After a month or so of being nursed back to health by a Frenchman in his basement. Grace is now on his feet, still blown away by the beauty of the woman in the photograph. He vows to one day find her, but first he must survive the war.

For duration of the war Thaddeus H. Grace finds himself leading a group of militia through Northern France in hopes in someway to make a difference in the war against the mighty German Army.

The more and more Grace finds himself in the depths of hell he solely relies on the woman in the photograph to keep his sanity through it all. Thus changing his reasons for wanting to find this woman. He has now fallen in love with her, not by her beauty but by the respect and admiration for her because of how she has saved him and continues to carry him through hell they called war.

The story is narrated by an old scruffy grounds keepers at the Normandy cemetery to Grace's daughter who is visiting her fathers tombstone.

Upon hearing her relationship to Thaddeus Grace this old man pulls out this old photograph her father had carried with him through the war. Hesitant to ask, he still ask if she could tell him who is this woman in the photograph? She is perplexed as to how he has this photograph, she replies "that's my mother." The scruffy old man proceeds to tell her he knew her father during the war. If she would be willing to sit and learn as to how he knew her father. Quick to oblige his request as she is eager to learn more. The old man continues, I met your father on that fateful day at the crash site on March 19th 1944. To strengthen his claim that he knew her father was the photograph Grace had on him at all times, to your father this photograph was his saving grace. He always carried it with him, in hopes one day he could have met this woman to simply thank her for saving him.

In the end the question is answered, as to who is this man that ended up with a photograph at Normandy Cemetery.

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