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Reluctant Warrior: Former German Pow Finds Peace in Texas

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"Reluctant Warrior"
Heino R. Erichsen
ISBN 10-57168-514-6
2001

For the most part this is a very readable book. It traces Heino Erichsen's story from capture in North Africa as an eighteen year old German soldier through prison camps in the United States, to repatriation to Germany, and ultimately to return to the United States.

Erichsen's book initially interested me because in the town where I grew up in central Texas there had been a German prisoner of war camp. Mr. Erichsen's book answered my questions about life in those camps. The initial prison camp to which he was sent was Camp Hearne, Texas. The town was so depleted of agricultural labor that when the prisoners arrived at the camp, according to Erichsen, who spoke English, they were greeted with "Hi y'all, come on in." As it turned out three-fourths of the prisoners were NCO's, who were exempted from work by the Geneva Convention. Accordingly, later, the locals dubbed the camp, "The Fritz Ritz".

During Erichsen's stay, Nazis murdered an English-speaking prisoner, who had translated for the camp's commanding officer. The translator was thought to be too friendly to the Americans. Erichsen wrote that his American captors failed to distinguish between the Nazis and the non-political types who made up most of the German army. This oversight led to incidents such as the translator's murder.

This book also discloses the fact, unknown at least to me, that after the war the German prisoners in the U.S. were not returned directly to Germany. Instead they had to serve one to two year terms in England, Scotland, Belgium, and France working on farms, in mines, or repairing war damages to make up for the manpower losses that those countries had suffered. Erichsen captured in 1943 did not make it back to his hometown of Kiel in north Germany until 1948. He writes that over 58 percent of the buildings had been destroyed. The city was barely recognizable.

After a while, Erichsen was able to get a job as a translator for a British government organization. Outside of work, Erichsen wrote of the postwar period in Germany, it was difficult to have a social life of any kind because the men of his age had lost their contemporaries and the young women had lost their innocence. Surviving consumed the thoughts of women his age, he wrote. After six years, he returned to the United States with his new family.

Life in the U.S. was not an immediate success for Erichsen. He had given up an excellent job in Germany. After weeks of interviews, he learned that his references and education counted for nothing. He was a foreigner with an accent. Eventually, he got work. Later, his wife left him. He married again. He and his second wife went on to found an international adoption agency, which placed hundreds of orphans. This became his life's work and his way of coping with his wartime experiences.

Although "Reluctant Warrior" lacks the dramatic power of books such as "Destined to Witness" and "German Boy", two other books by Germans about their wartime experiences, it is nonetheless an interesting book. Its coverage of the lives of German prisoners in American POW camps provides an original insight into a somewhat forgotten aspect of our history.

This book is full of insights into what German life was like before, during and just after WWII. I have lived Germany for the better part of the last 25 years and it opened my eyes to what really went on during this time. There are events that we were never taught in history class. There are very personal and emotional accounts of events in a world that most of us can't even imagine. My only complaint is that the book started to fall apart on the third reading.

Written with authenticity and sensitivity, The Reluctant Warrior tells the incredible and inspiring story of a German boy growing up during the ravages of Hitler and Nazi Germany. He uses his intelligence, humor, stubbornness and ingenuity to survive not only the battles of war, but also life in an American POW Camp. The reader lives each moment with him through sorrows, challenges and accomplishments. This book will have you cheering as he not only survives, but later returns to the United States and dedicates his life to finding families for the orphans of the world. A wonderful book with a completely compelling story that I could not put down!

Growing up in Grand Island, Nebraska, I was very aware of World War II because we had a huge Army Air Force base just outside town. We also had the Cornhusker Ordinance Plant, where bombs and ammunition for the war effort were manufactured. And as the war progressed we had something else: a prisoner-of-war camp. Ours was located in an old public school and I'll never forget the sight of those POWs "heading" the soccer ball in the first game I ever witnessed. This book is about the life of one such POW, and the dramatic events -- from North Africa to Texas to Germany to Minnesota to Texas -- in his life. If you're interested in World War II from a different vantage point and you want to see the heartwarming conclusion of a remarkable man's stubborn path to achievement, this is the book for you. And there's a sub-plot about a moving adoption story as a bonus!

Heino and Jean Erichsen's The Reluctant Warrior is an exciting and engaging narrative about the life of a former WWII German Soldier who becomes an American shortly after the war. One learns of his upbringing in Nazi Germany, his adventures and survival while serving in the Afrikakorps, and life as a prisoner of war in numerous camps in the US and abroad. As one who has researched Fort Knox history, I can say that this book provides readers with the most detailed-published account of life as POW at Fort Knox, Kentucky. After the war Heino returned to America seeking a better life. He not only found that life, but also assisted families and orphaned children in discovering it as well through an international adoption agency he and his wife established. While Heino's war memories are sure to be of interest to military aficionados, his post war activities are equally moving and inspiring.

IT IS GREAT BOOK TO READ ABOUT WHAT A GERMAN SOLDIER IN
WORLD WAR II WENT THROUGH.

Among other things, this story is an enlightening view of an Axis "enemy" in WW 2. But not at all like the fearsome German soldier propagandized by Adolph Hitler, U.S. movies and documentaries, nor by our own Armed Services during that war. It is also a classic view of what the German people experienced through that long war.
As for the soldier, you see the human side of a German boy, raised in a middle class family, whose parents secretly opposed the war and Hitler's grand schemes. Frail as a lad, required to participate as a member of the Hitler Youth Program, and schooled for office work, Heino was inept as a soldier before he became a member of the Afrikan Korps under Field Marshall Rommel in February 1943. His story could easily have been the life of a similar American youth, except for location, culture, and circumstance of war.
For Heino Erichsen, that circumstance included being captured and shipped to the United States as a Prisoner of War. On reflection, it was perhaps a more fortunate fate for him than for some of his American counterparts interned as POWs in Germany - but not a good thing at best.
What he made of his life, despite the war, the onus of being a POW, and many other obstacles in his path, is a tribute to Erichsen's self discipline, work ethic, faith in his God, and a good wife - a combination manifest in his many good works worldwide since immigrating and becoming an American citizen.
I interviewed Heino and Jean after reading a story about them in the local paper. I was so impressed by both of them that I purchased The Reluctant Warrior for my own library. After reading it, I was even more impressed with what they have made of their life, and I strongly recommend their book to you. It is interesting, educational, and quite revealing.