Testimonials

Tom, when we started to read your books we couldn’t lay them down. Both of your books made both of us really emotional, the tears flowed, but we couldn’t stop reading. Your books really opened our eyes to what the soldiers in WW II went through. Because my husband (Dad) never talked about that time in his life, or what happened to him. I am so very glad that my husband (Dad) was one of the lucky ones that came back. He lived to be 80 years old. He served in Germany and Italy in the Army Air Force. We did hear from one of the guys that was with him, he said that Dad was surprised that they were shooting at them. Both of your books made us want to know more about what my husband (Dad) went through. We have been doing WW II research on the Internet, and now we know a little more. We thank you for that.

Gertie Mynhier, WWII widow, and daughter Linda Britton

What touched me most about your book is the effort you have made to detail your own journey so that others may follow, if they have the passion to learn what happened to their father or other loved one killed in World War II. Your book will help those who lost a father, as well as others down the road of other generations who will be looking back and wondering about great grandfathers or uncles, etc., who died.

I am heartened by the number of young people today who are tracing their roots or doing family histories and have developed a keen interest and soul/link to a family member who they never knew but were told "died in World War II." Your book will help them travel down the path of discovery when they find it on a library shelf. Every effort such as the one you have made, and others may make, to put the humanity back into someone who was "lost" will make the world a better and more thoughtful place.

Behind every marker, and every name on a memorial, is a lost soldier waiting to be made whole again; waiting to be retrieved from the darkness of anonymity and from the dehumanizing label of "fallen soldier" or "war hero."

How can we mourn, how can we remember them, how can we understand the true cost of war if we do not first unearth their humanness, their jokes, their sorrows, their efforts to communicate with us the living?

Efforts like yours give me hope that the dead will NOT be forgotten, or the "price" of freedom ignored.

Anne Bennett Mix
Founder, American WWII Orphans Network

I could not stop reading your book, Now I Know. You composed a perfect mixture of private feelings and facts in your search to know what happened. My wife asked me, what did that book tell you? I answered, more than I expected. I expected to learn more about history, but I learned much more. I learned things that influence my feelings and improved my understanding of people.

When I read your book, some of the stories my father told me came back to my mind. My father said, “The Allies had to pay a high price, but they can be proud of their soldiers, because they fought for freedom and democracy.” My father also said, “We gave such a lot of blood for our country, I still have seven shell splinters in my bones and only ten per cent sight in my left eye. For what? We cannot be proud that we did not recognize that we were misused. They told us Germany’s existence was endangered, and we believed it. It was hard to come home after all that hell to learn the result of your sacrifice was a devastated homeland, and the knowledge that you fought for the wrong thing.”

Toni Wiefarn
German citizen and son of German WW II soldier Anton Wiefarn

Now I Know, by Tom Ratliff, a fellow WWII orphan, is a must read for war orphans and all that have been touched by war. After writing his first book about his father (I Can Hear the Guns Now, a World War II story of love and sacrifice), Tom, in Now I Know, chronicles the journey of his search for the truth about his father's death, and at the same time provides an applicable blueprint to assist any orphan in their search for information. He succinctly puts into perspective how the loss of a father affects family and friends. Finally, Tom zeroes in on his personal feelings and thoughts about the loss of his dad which parallels mine in many instances. War orphans have much in common and this book brings it home very clearly.

Walter Linne
Brother of John
Sons of Walter John Linne
KIA March 24, 1945

Tom, I just finished your book, Now I Know. How thought provoking! Each of the politicians who send our young people into harm's way should be required to read your book!

Multiply your story by the thousands of families impacted by this war alone. While the world is a different place than it was then, the life altering basics are still the same. I know first hand the always present anguish families endure when a loved one is sent into these situations, even with the help of today's technology that allowed us to receive phone calls and emails each week or two. I can't imagine what it would have been like to wait weeks or months for those letters to arrive. The men and their families that served in WWII were truly the greatest generation. Thanks so much for sharing your story.

Madonna Bowman, mother of Iraq War Veteran

Now I Know is Thomas Ratliff’s second book on World War II. It is a welcome addition to his first, I Can Hear the Guns Now. Part documentary and part reference tool, Now I Know illustrates the futility of the battle of the Huertgen Forest (late 1944-early 1945) and the appalling loss of life there. Mr. Ratliff’s two volumes together trace the poignant story of a man’s life-long search for understanding and his attempt to resolve the grief caused by his father’s death. The books are a must read for the those who are interested in World War II and especially for war orphans who still search for parents who will never come home. We owe them all so much. May the parents and children together find peace.

Dan Flory, Ph.D. - 10/14/07