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Author
Interview
Q:
How did you come to be interested in the subject of German/Americans in
the German military during World War II?
My
first recollections of World War II were riding in my family's car
between our home in southern Iowa and to Lincoln, Nebraska where my
father worked in a Goodyear Rubber Plant. He was a supervisor building
rubber gas tanks for the B-29 Super fortress--a key aircraft in the war.
On these trips between Iowa and Nebraska, traveling on state route No.
2, we'd pass the POW camp at Clarinda, Iowa.
I
well remember my mother pointing to the prisoners working in the fields,
telling me to "Tommy, look at the Nazis!"
I was 4 years old. Camp Clarinda was one of the biggest camps of the
more than 600 POW camps around the nation. That’s how it found its way
into my book.
Q:
What particular challenges did you face in writing about this
little-known aspect of the war?
Research
on the subject is very rare. Many German-American immigrant families
sent their young sons and daughters back to the fatherland to college.
It’s understandable that these families were reluctant to divulge this
information either during or after the war. A friend, an Army
intelligence specialist at the end of the war, told me he was aware of
"hundreds" of cases where young Americans had gone to Germany either to
join the Wehrmacht (German armed forces), or were drafted while in
Germany by Hitler.
Q:
Did you interview any of the German-American veterans of the war that
you write about?
I was not able to document one person officially. However, a U.S. Army intelligence soldier I interviewed witnessed "hundreds" of Germans, both men and women, who had either given up their U.S. citizenship or had been caught in Germany before the war. This isn't something I dreamed up. In Steven Ambrose’s book, Band of Brothers, there is reference to a German soldier speaking perfect English with an American soldier. The German soldier identified himself as being from Oregon: "My parents were Volksdeutchers who answered the call, so I had to go to Germany to fight for the Fatherland," he said in a quote by Ambrose.
Q:What was the most fascinating fact or issue you uncovered in your
research?
My story has Erwin Rommel, the famous German general, known as the Desert Fox, as a central historic figure. After I had written my book, I saw a documentary on The History Channel with interviews of many of Rommel’s former comrades and soldiers in the Afrika Korps. The personality these old soldiers described about their leader was one that was nearly identical to the one I had given him in my fictional account. He was an ardent believer in Hitler in the early years, but became disillusioned as the war dragged on. As far as I could determine, Rommel was not a member of the Nazi Party and, to his credit, was one of the key figure in the July 20, 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler. It cost him his life.
Q: World War II has been much written about. Why did you decide on this subject?
I wanted to reveal an aspect of the war few writers have ventured upon. It is largely unknown that Americans, willingly or unwillingly, served Der Fuhrer. A longtime journalist friend of mine, who did the editing on this book, told me: "I've learned more about our history during World War II than I ever got in any history class.” This is high compliment, indeed! Perhaps I have done a service.
Q: Where did you get your ideas for the story?
Many of the scenarios are based upon true
incidents,
told
to me by veterans of WWII. In many cases you couldn't make up these
stories—they had to be true. The incident at the captured German
hospital near the end of the book, where American MPs are screening
German POWs-- determining who SS were and who ordinary grunt Wehrmacht--
that was told to me by an Army veteran from my hometown who had been a
truck driver in Patton's 3rd Army.
Q: In your second book, “The Secret at Beckham Manor,” what was your inspiration?
“Beckham” is a sequel to “Doppelganger.” I left one character unaccounted for in the first novel, German Lt. Col. Dieter Zeis. I follow him through the post-war years as he grapples with peace, the Cold War, and the entanglements between the various Allies. This book is important because Dieter brings to a close a story that “Doppelganger” began in 1936.
Q: How about your third novel?
“The Beacon on Kill Devil Hill” is an entirely different story about the early days of America’s involvement in World War II. My editor, James H. Martin of Rocky Mount, N.C., joined me in writing this third novel. In fact, while the basic story is mine, Jim did the lion’s share of the writing and editing. I’m basically a storyteller. Jim is an excellent editor and writer. When you have a partnership with those tools, why not use them where they’re most effective. I’m more excited about “Beacon” than anything I’ve written to date.
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