A Gold Star Mother to remember...

I took this photo of Eunice Sage just before she passed away. She lost three sons on the USS Frank E. Evans and remains one of America's least-known Gold Star Mothers--until now. The Sages were from Niobrara, Nebraska and grew up on farms. I write about their lives in the book American Boys, the title of which Eunice gave me when I asked, my last question in a weekend full of them, "what did you want people to remember about your sons?" "That they were ordinary American boys." That same day, the day after this photo was taken, I told Eunice, just as I was leaving Niobrara, that I would do my best to tell her family's story. That I would make sure people knew about them. The cost of war is immeasurable. (This photo is in the book American Boys: The True Story of the Lost 74 of the Vietnam War.)