War Stories

Trevor is Jacob’s 12-year-old great-grandson. He is fascinated by everything related to World War II and avidly plays video games that recreate the war’s major battles. To a large extent, Trevor participates in The Glamorization of Warfare, celebrating combat even as his father tries to point out the horrors of war in reality. Trevor also idealizes Jacob and sees him as a great hero. Even when the Firestone family tours the French countryside and sees evidence of the havoc that war can wreak, Trevor struggles to view combat as anything other than splendid.

Only after Trevor encounters Juliette Lafleur and learns the role that his grandfather played in her family’s destruction does his view of warfare truly mature. By the end of the story, he still values the courage shown by Jacob and the importance of American involvement in World War II to stop Hitler from ruling the world. However, Trevor also comes to see his great-grandfather in a new, more human light, and he grows more aware of video games’ bias and flaws in terms of framing and representing the war.

Daniel is Trevor’s father and Jacob’s grandson. He is divorced and only gets to see his son on alternate weekends. A history teacher by profession, Daniel takes a dim view of the glorification of war. He tries to discourage Trevor’s obsession with World War II video games, hoping the trip overseas with Jacob will help Trevor learn about the reality of war. As a youth himself, Daniel wasn’t nearly as impressed by Jacob’s exploits as Trevor is. Daniel has always understood the real toll of armed conflict in terms of human life.

Despite his misgivings, Daniel helps his son and his grandfather revisit all the battlefields and memorials of the war that hold personal memories for Jacob. Ultimately, Daniel recognizes that the trip was a means for his grandfather to shed the ghosts of his past. In the process, Daniel’s son also gains a healthier perspective on warfare.

Juliette is one of the only surviving descendants of René Lafleur’s family. Seventy-five years earlier, the family was wiped out by the Nazis because of their participation in the French Resistance; their story emphasizes The Personal Price of Victory. Thirteen-year-old Juliette and her cousin Philippe harbor a grudge against Jacob because he inadvertently got their family killed. Juliette is furious that Jacob is returning to Sainte-Régine as an honored guest and does everything in her power to drive him away from the ceremony.

However, as Juliette spies on the Firestone family and eventually converses with Trevor, she comes to realize that revenge solves nothing. Like Jacob, she is able to bury the ghosts of the past by the time the story ends. She also stays in contact with Trevor, reforging the broken link between the Firestones and the Lafleurs.

Philippe is Juliette’s hotheaded cousin. He is 17 and owns a motorcycle, which is the reason that Juliette enlists his aid to terrorize the Firestones when they return to France. Even though Juliette finally learns to put the past behind her, Philippe is unwilling to do so. During the ceremony for Jacob in the town square, he fires a paint gun at the American hero. His actions set the stage for Jacob to confess his part in the deaths of the Lafleur family and allow him to offer a public apology. Although Philippe should be arrested, Jacob refuses to press charges. This act of kindness helps to melt some of Philippe’s hostility toward the man whose misstep led to the murder of his ancestors.

René is a French farmer who resides with his family on the outskirts of Sainte-Régine in 1944. He rescues Jacob after the soldier crashes a motorcycle while escaping the Nazis. René is part of the French Resistance and risks his life to shelter Jacob until he recovers from his injuries. Later, Jacob enlists René’s help in destroying a Nazi tank in town that is preventing the American forces from liberating it. René is so grateful for this assistance that he gives Jacob his Resistance ring, engraved with the Cross of Lorraine.

Jacob’s chance encounter with a Nazi after leaving the Lafleur farm indirectly causes the deaths of the entire Lafleur family except for René. Jacob comes to believe—along with the surviving Lafleur family members—that he should have killed the soldier, or died trying, to prevent the soldier from telling his superiors about the Lafleurs. When Jacob begs forgiveness on finding the burned ruins of the house, René turns him away. It will take 75 years before René’s descendants are ready to forgive the American for his choice.

Beau is a large, affable recruit from Texas when Jacob first meets him. He is initially assigned to the paratrooper unit, which all the infantry soldiers despise. However, when he washes out of the program, he is reassigned to Jacob’s unit. Beau proves to be a loyal friend and comrade. Of the four young men who go through boot camp together, Beau is the only one besides Jacob who survives the war.

Freddie is another of Jacob’s friends in basic training. He is the first of the four comrades to die. Shortly after the landing on Omaha Beach on D-day, Freddie steps on a land mine; the violent explosion kills him instantly. Years later, Jacob searches for the place where Freddie fell, finding that it is now a pedestrian crosswalk. Jacob later finds Freddie’s grave among so many others who died during the first day of the invasion.

Leland is the last of the four recruits who started out together. He manages to survive through most of the story. Leland, Jacob, and two other soldiers are assigned the duty of defusing bombs under the Aisne River bridge when a Nazi sniper starts shooting at them. One of the bombs detonates, and Leland dies in the explosion. Jacob is the only member of the crew who escapes after the bridge collapses.

Julia is Daniel’s ex-wife and Trevor’s mother. She has moved to a new home with her son and two twin daughters. Like Daniel, she is concerned that Trevor spends too many hours playing World War II video games. She is also opposed to her son’s trip to France, pointing out that he will miss three weeks of school. In the end, she allows Trevor to go, not realizing how beneficial the experience will be in correcting his perception of real warfare.