The leather-bound book is entitled “World War II – May – June 1940 —Volume 11.”

Inside its pages, there are newspaper clippings pasted neatly with their headlines attached.

A hand-written date at the top of the pages identifies when the even took place.

The clippings record the events that took place over six decades ago and which remain the reason veterans are remembered each Memorial Day.

Roger Moen was one of the Americans who answered the call of their country to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces, during WWII.

A U.S. Army soldier, Moen served in Burma, Australia and India.

All the while he was fighting, his mother, Hannah Moen, kept a scrapbook of newspaper clippings and headlines during the war.

World War II was the deadliest military conflict in history.

World War II casualty statistics vary greatly. Estimates of total dead range from 50 million to more than 70 million.

Civilians killed totaled around 47 million, including 20 million from war-related disease and famine. Total military dead: About 25 million, including deaths in captivity of about 4 million prisoners of war.

Flags and 21 gun salutes honor WWII’s and all other wars’ dead each Memorial Day.

Sixty-nine years ago this summer, so many veterans were making the ultimate sacrifice in a war the Nazis were winning despite newspaper headlines that attempted to find hope and glory amidst the carnage.

“British bomb Nazi bases; Norse recapture bridges” …… “Norwegians pull surprise raid to rout forces” and others.

While the United States remained on the sidelines, Germany was winning World War II in Europe.

The spring and summer of 1940 recorded the progress of the nazis:

May 10, 1940 – Nazis invade France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands; Winston Churchill becomes British Prime Minister.

May 15, 1940 – Holland surrenders to the Nazis.

May 26, 1940 – Evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk begins.

May 28, 1940 – Belgium surrenders to the Nazis.

June 3, 1940 – Germans bomb Paris; Dunkirk evacuation ends.

June 10, 1940 – Norway surrenders to the Nazis; Italy declares war on Britain and France.

June 14, 1940 – Germans enter Paris.

When Moen was honorably discharged from military service and returned home to Minnesota, his mother kept her collection of WWII clippings.

Moen went on to become a teacher. When he retired, he was an Austin High School 12th grade economics teacher. His career in education spanned 34 years.

His wife, Val, picks up the story at this point.

“After his mother died, he kept the scrapbooks going,” she said. “He collected newspaper clippings about the war and added them to the books she had started when he was in the war.”

When Roger Moen died in 1999, he left 30 volumes of WWII newspaper clippings behind.

“I found them in a closet and didn’t know what to do with them” recalled Val Moen, a retired Riverland Community College teacher, coach and athletic director. “I didn’t want to throw them away.”

She first offered them to her and Roger’s children and grandchildren, but, she said, “There were no takers. They weren’t interested.”

Then, she offered them to “Bud” Higgins, a retired AHS English teacher, who owns and operates a collectible book store in downtown Austin.

“I thought he might like to have them, because his book store has so many old and valuable things about history,” she said.

Higgins accepted the 30 volumes, but they didn’t remain with him long: He passed them on to a grandson at Stewartville.

“He’s interested in World War II, and I thought he might like to keep them and use them when he studied American history,” Higgins said.

So, 30 leather-bound volumes of newspaper clippings from more than 60 years ago rest in the hands of a child this Memorial Day.

“I think Rog would have been proud to know what Bud did with them, and that they are being preserved by someone who is interested in that part of American history,” she said.