Following the 2nd battle of Ypres, furious fighting continued on all fronts. Casualties were high, conditions dreadful, and life expectancy short. The only break the men had was a brief home leave, or a few days away from the trenches. It was no comfort, either, that many people back at home had little idea of the suffering in the battlefields, although concern was growing as the mounting casualty lists were published.
On a cold, miserable night in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, a night that wouldn’t feel so unusual if it wasn’t the Fourth of July, an antique wooden boat runs full-speed into a line of old railroad pilings in the shallow waters of Waishkey Bay. When Alex McKnight helps rescue the passengers, he finds three men. The driver is out cold, the other two are dazed but conscious. When they’re all finally back on dry land and sent...