In less than six months during 1944, four telegrams were delivered to a farmhouse in rural Thatcher, Utah. Each one delivered such a shock to the mother that she fell to the floor, unconscious.

Seventy years later, Army veteran Mark Hutson discovered a WW2 service flag hidden in a dusty cabinet at an auction. This unexpected treasure inspired his mission to collect other service flags and, when possible, to tell the stories behind the stars. Late one night he stumbled on the name Borgstrom—a family of immigrants who sent five sons to war. The Borgstroms were private people, but how had their story been overlooked?

Here, after years of research, Hutson uses Gunda Borgstrom’s own words, as well as correspondence from military commanders and President Roosevelt himself, to piece together the astounding, heartbreaking journey of bringing Gunda’s sons home.

In So Costly a Sacrifice, the true story of one family’s enormous sacrifice during WWII is finally brought to light.