Heritage of Guns and Glory

Here is a powerful human-interest account of the life of a young German, born in Berlin the year Adolf Hitler came to power in the Third Reich. Knut (pronounce "e;Kanute"e;) was totally indoctrinated as a child in Nazi Germany doomed to its total collapse in 1945. Because of the agony of recognizing all the wrongs of his youthful beliefs, he carried his share of the "e;collective guilt"e;. Knut embarked upon a new life, still in his early youth at 12, to steer a new course. As an "e;exchange student"e; at 16, he was sent to a small "e;work as you learn"e; vocational Junior College near Asheville, North Carolina, and experienced much of the American way of life firsthand. After a year, and back in Berlin, he borrowed enough money from an American benefactor to buy his passage on a freighter to return to America, which he was destined to love. He eventually came to St. Louis earning a BS degree in Political Science at St. Louis University. His student visa was about to expire when fate interceded, as he was given an opportunity to earn a "e;Green Card"e; upon successfully completing a three-year "e;hitch"e; in the US Army. And so, he was sent back to Germany as an "e;American"e; GI. There, he had the discipline of an excellent soldier, who had never quite forgotten his misguided childhood. Eventually, Knut worked his way through Law school, emerging as an attorney.