Tag: Author

Author of the book  The Granite Men of Henri-Chapelle. As World War Two drew to an end in 1945, the New Hampshire state legislature adopted “Live Free or Die” as the state’s motto. While the New Hampshire state legislature prepared to adopt this motto, many families throughout the Granite State and the rest of the country prepared to welcome home their service members who had fought to preserve freedom around the world. For almost forty New Hampshire servicemen, including the author’s uncle, Private First Class Paul Lavoie, the return trip home did not happen. Instead, they remained in Europe, resting permanently at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Belgium with 7,952 of their comrades. The Granite Men of Henri-Chapelle attempts to illustrate the lives lived and left behind by these forty men.

This program is based on Kirsch’s book Flight of Remembrance, which focuses on the experiences of her parents in Germany during World War 2 – her father was unwillingly drafted into the Luftwaffe, the family surviving the bombing of Berlin, the hardships of POW camps and deprivation of post-war years, and their eventual immigration to the United States. (An interesting side note: her parents are still alive and happily living in NH!) Kirsch’s program draws attention to WW2 as experienced by ordinary people who lived in Germany during that era to provide a fuller picture of war’s devastation.