War Stories

As the Firestones enter Sainte-Régine, Jacob’s gloomy mood only seems to deepen. Unbeknownst to the Firestones, Philippe and Juliette are surveilling the fancy hotel at the center of town where the visitors will be staying. Philippe is furious that the entire village is giving them the VIP treatment, and he picks up a large rock. Juliette advises that it’s time to give up the fight and let the ceremony proceed. Then, the Firestones will leave for good. She has had a change of heart about La Verite, brought about by observing the Firestones over the course of their journey: “Now that she’d seen the American soldier up close—and met the great-grandson who loved him—she knew in her heart that revenge would not be sweet. What was past was past” (171).

Philippe grudgingly seems to agree and leaves. A few moments later, Juliette hears the sound of shattering glass. From inside the Ambassador Suite of the hotel, the Firestones find a large rock lobbed through the living room window. The glass has been completely smashed. Daniel finally tells Trevor about all the threatening messages from La Verite. He didn’t want to worry his son. Jacob says that he isn’t a hero to everyone in Sainte-Régine and decides to tell Daniel and Trevor the whole story.

After Jacob reunites with his company, they learn that there is heavy fighting in the town of Sainte-Régine. The Americans can’t liberate the town because the Germans are defending it with a hidden cannon. A departing soldier makes clear how dire the circumstances are: “They cut us to pieces. There’s only one road in, and they’ve got a giant gun locked onto it. We never got within a klick” (178). In the hopes of helping, Jacob tells his captain that he has contacts in the French Resistance in Sainte-Régine; they might be able to find and disable the cannon.

That night, Jacob is sent out alone to contact the Lafleurs. He is behind enemy lines and without backup. After a false start, he locates the right house and explains his plan to René. He has also brought a supply of plastic explosives for René to use when he locates the gun. René is pleased that Jacob has found a means to liberate the town. In gratitude, he gives Jacob his Resistance ring.

Jacob leaves the house just before dawn, only to cross the path of a German soldier who is slightly drunk. Both men are startled and hesitate to draw their weapons. Jacob makes a gesture suggesting that they should go their separate ways, and the German nods in agreement.

Thirty-six hours later, Jacob is back with his company, fighting to take Sainte-Régine. The German cannon still hasn’t been silenced, and he wonders what might have gone wrong. Inside the town, three resistance fighters are trying to execute the plan, but René never arrived to lead them. The fighters have the explosives and are still searching for the cannon when they stumble across the source of the noise in an old livery stable. It isn’t a cannon but a Tiger tank that is bombarding the Americans.

The resistance fighters stealthily attach the explosives to the exterior of the tank. As they retreat out of range, a German soldier climbs out of the hatch for a smoke and sees them. A scuffle ensues, leaving one German and two Frenchmen dead. The final Resistance fighter scuffles with another German soldier to activate the detonator, but both men are crushed as the tank rolls out of the stable.

Jacob leaves Bravo Company and runs into town to see why the cannon hasn’t been destroyed. He soon realizes that a tank is responsible for the shelling and notices the putty explosive attached to its sides. He tries to detonate them with bullets, but these ricochet off the tank and alert the driver to his presence. As the tank takes aim at Jacob, he gets the idea to throw a grenade at it. His window for success is tiny, but he manages the timing—the grenade explodes and destroys the Tiger. Jacob is briefly knocked unconscious, but on recovery, he hurries to the Lafleur farmhouse. It has been burned to the ground. Everyone is dead except René. The father is there, seemingly broken: “René sat cross-legged on the ground, facing the wreckage but not quite seeing it, his disbelieving eyes focused on some point a hundred miles away” (198).

Jacob quickly realizes that his encounter with the drunken German soldier must have tipped off the enemy that René had been in league with the Resistance. Jacob tearfully confesses that it is his fault that René’s family is dead. The Frenchman doesn’t forgive him for so casually sparing the German’s life. René says, “I thank you for helping to save my village. But I must not lay eyes on you again. Do you understand?” (200).

As Jacob staggers away in tears, he encounters another young German soldier, fleeing in terror. Enraged by his own folly, Jacob plans to shoot the boy to make up for his previous mistake. At the last moment, he decides that revenge will solve nothing. He shoos the boy away, referring to him using his own nickname, and his act of mercy brings him some relief: “Jacob lowered his rifle. ‘Get out of here, High School. Beat it.’ And when the stunned boy scrambled up, gawked at him in disbelief, and ran off, Jacob felt reborn” (201).

After hearing the tale of Jacob’s role in getting the Lafleur family killed, Trevor runs out of the hotel. He is devastated and sees his great-grandfather in a new light. For the first time, he also sees warfare as something other than glorious: “Chaos was the word G.G. had once used to describe war. It looked cool on a movie screen or in a video game. But when real lives were being lost, snuffed out by sheer random chance, there was no glory” (205).

Lost in his thoughts, Trevor rambles through the town and collides with Juliette. The two begin to discuss their differences, and both conclude that they want the ceremony to be over as soon as possible. Reflecting on their surprising consensus, Juliette says, “A Lafleur and a Firestone in agreement. Who would believe it?” (207). Juliette reassures Trevor that she will take no further action against Jacob, but Philippe might be a different matter. Trevor wants to alert the police, but Juliette refuses. Ultimately, the two agree that they must be the ones to protect Jacob at the ceremony.

The morning of the ceremony, Jacob is grumpy about having to put on a fancy suit. He still seems to be in a gloomy mood about the honors he will receive. A speaker’s platform has been set up in the town’s square with the mayor presiding. As the speeches commence, Trevor receives a text from Juliette. She is in a building across the street, watching for Philippe, when she spots her cousin moving to the front of the crowd. Trevor leaps in front of Jacob after he sees Philippe draw a gun.

Everyone on the platform is spattered in red—Philippe’s weapon is actually a paint gun. The police are about to haul Philippe away when Jacob orders them to leave the boy alone. He then tells everyone what happened to the Lafleur family because of his folly, acknowledging why the children are angry with him: “That day, when I thought I was being G.I. Joe, I brought disaster down on a family I loved. I understand why you kids don’t forgive me. I don’t forgive myself. It was unforgivable” (221). Jacob then produces the Resistance ring that René gave him and hands it to Juliette. He remarks that, in truth, it belongs to her family: “I’ve kept it with me ever since the last time I was in Sainte-Régine. I can’t give you back your family, but you should have this” (221).

In response to this gesture, Juliette hugs Jacob. He tells the police to release Philippe, and the crowd applauds. Trevor finally understands why Jacob had to make the trip to Sainte-Régine. This trip was not about reliving the glorious days of the war but about easing the guilt his grandfather had carried ever since: “That brief embrace between G.G. and Juliette had been nothing less than a gigantic weight lifted from the old man’s shoulders—one that had been crushing him for most of his long life” (222).

Once the crowd finally thins out, an elderly German man approaches Jacob. He says that he is the young soldier that Jacob spared after the Lafleur massacre. He shows the Firestones pictures of his own family. None of those people would have come into being if Jacob had shot him that day. Trevor reflects on the meaning and value of this man’s survival: “A snap decision—a moment of mercy—and all those lives became suddenly possible. It would not bring back René’s family, but it was a miracle just the same” (224).

Trevor is back at home playing his favorite World War II video games. Now, he realizes that the game designers didn’t understand how difficult it would be for a Sherman tank to penetrate a hedgerow. He also realizes that a real Tiger tank would never blow apart as easily in real life. Trevor’s little twin sisters invade the room, using their Barbie dolls as guns to help him win the war.

He corrects their perception of what’s happening on the screen:

‘That’s a video game based on the war. Loosely based,’ he added, picturing the Tiger tank blasting apart like a water balloon hitting the sidewalk. ‘It’s fun to play, but it’s not the real thing’ (227).

Just then, Trevor gets a phone call from Juliette. They’ve remained in contact since the presentation. He tells his sisters that she’s a friend of the family.

Back at Fort Benning, four soldiers fresh out of boot camp are about to be sent to England to face Hitler’s army. Jacob, Freddie, Leland, and Beau pack their duffel bags and speculate about what they will face overseas. Jacob reassures them, “Nothing can touch us if we stick together” (232).