Jorie Graham on NPR radio

Shortly after the attacks of 9/11, when American soldiers were once again heading off to war, the poet Jorie Graham found herself walking the beaches of Normandy. She was struck by thoughts of the American soldiers who landed on the coast of France. In the hedgerows and fields, she found images of death and remembrance.

Soon, the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer began trying to make sense of wars past and present. The result is a new book of her poetry, Overlord. It's the code name for the U.S. invasion of Europe and its also an attempt by Graham to connect soldiers serving today in Iraq to those who fought before them, as well as a search for what binds soldiers of all uniforms, Iraqis, Germans, Americans -- all dying for a cause -- and leaving unanswered questions be