Finding the Fallen

Serre in Northern France was an infamous German stronghold in the Great War. Thousands died here, many of them buried where they fell. Three soldiers are discovered. One is British but a lack of material evidence prevents identification. The other two are German, discovered with tantalizing clues as to their identity. One soldier took into battle a touching souvenir of home, a pictorial shoe polish lid. He also broke a cardinal rule of war by scratching his name on his i.d. tag. The partial name and the keepsake allow a positive identification. The other was found with a matted lump of paper. Using real world “CSI” techniques, a lost document is restored and gives up a name and a place. In the end, enlisted man and officer- brothers only in death—are reburied together in a military cemetery, sharing a single stone.