Coming to Colorado: A Young Immigrant’s Journey to Become an American Flyer (Willie Morris Books in Memoir and Biography)

353 Pages·2006·1.91 MB·English

by  Wolfgang W. E. Samuel

COMING TO COLORADO

Coming to
COLOR ADO
A Young Immigrant’s Journey
to Become an American Flyer
Wolfgang W. E. Samuel
UNIVERSITY PRESS OF MISSISSIPPI / JACKSON
www.upress.state.ms.us
The University Press of Mississippi is a member of the
Association of American University Presses.
Photographs courtesy of Wolfgang W. E. Samuel
Copyright © 2006 by Wolfgang W. E. Samuel
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
First edition 2006
(cid:1)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Samuel, Wolfgang W. E.
Coming to Colorado: a young immigrant’s journey to become an American flyer /
Wolfgang W. E. Samuel. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Continues: German boy.
ISBN–13: 978–1–57806–902–6 (cloth: alk. paper)
ISBN–10: 1–57806–902–5 (cloth: alk. paper) 1. Samuel, Wolfgang W. E. 2. Colorado—
Biography. 3. World War, 1939–1945—Refugees—Biography. 4. Air pilots, Military—United
States—Biography. 5. United States. Air Force—Biography. I. Samuel, Wolfgang W. E.
German boy. II. Title.
CT275.S3175A3 2006
940.54’4943092—dc22 2006001990
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data available
TO MY SON CHARLES
IN MEMORY OF MY SON TOMMY
TO ALL YOUNG PEOPLE WHO NURTURE A DREAM

Contents
Illustrations { ix }
Preface { xiii }
CHAPTER 1. The Way Things Were { 3 }
CHAPTER 2. A Child Once More { 23 }
CHAPTER 3. Leaving for America { 35 }
CHAPTER 4. USNS George W. Goethals { 50 }
CHAPTER 5. Coming to Colorado { 58 }
CHAPTER 6. Emily Griffi th Opportunity School { 77 }
CHAPTER 7. Hedwig Grapentin { 88 }
CHAPTER 8. Settling In { 99 }
CHAPTER 9. East High School { 108 }
CHAPTER 10. A Distant Goal { 119 }
CHAPTER 11. Ingrid’s Return { 131 }
CHAPTER 12. High School Graduation { 140 }
CHAPTER 13. A Taste of Failure { 155 }
CHAPTER 14. On a Colorado Morning { 168 }
CHAPTER 15. Lackland Air Force Base, Texas { 177 }
CHAPTER 16. Flight 698 { 186 }
CHAPTER 17. Carswell Air Force Base, Texas { 195 }
CHAPTER 18. A Different World { 206 }
CHAPTER 19. Camp Kilmer, New Jersey { 222 }
CHAPTER 20. USNS Simon B. Buckner { 233 }
CHAPTER 21. RAF Station Sculthorpe, England { 243 }
CHAPTER 22. An Unlikely Wedding { 253 }
CHAPTER 23. RMS Queen Mary { 265 }
CHAPTER 24. Differences and Choices { 276 }
CHAPTER 25. A Shattered Marriage { 285 }
CHAPTER 26. Coming Home to Colorado { 300 }
CHAPTER 27. Harlingen Air Force Base, Texas { 318 }
CHAPTER 28. A Dream Come True { 328 }
{ viii } CONTENTS
Illustrations
CHAPTER 1 (PAGE 3): Eighth grade graduation picture, Fassberg,
1950
Germany, April . Wolfgang, top row, second from right; Arnim
Krüger, his best friend, top row, second from left.
1949
CHAPTER 2 (PAGE 23): Wolfgang in standing in front of the
1946 1950
barracks he called home from to . He is wearing cast-off
American and British uniform pieces.
CHAPTER 3 (PAGE 35): Hedy and Leo in Frau Buck’s garden in
1950
Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany, in the spring of .
CHAPTER 4 (PAGE 50): Leo, Hedy, and Wolfgang on board the USNS
George W. Goethals, en route from Bremerhaven, Germany, to New
1951
York City in January .
CHAPTER 5 (PAGE 58): The splendid Colorado scenery soon captured
Wolfgang’s heart. He felt he fi nally found a home.
1951 52
CHAPTER 6 (PAGE 77): Wolfgang in the summer of at Jones
Street, an air force housing development in Denver, Colorado.
CHAPTER 7 (PAGE 88): A simple row house on the former von Arnim
estate in Neuensund, Germany, was where Hedy was born
and raised.
CHAPTER 8 (PAGE 99): Wolfgang and mother Hedy on the stoop
of their fi rst home in America, an air force housing development in
Denver, Colorado.
{ ix }