Wolfgang W.E. Samuel

Wolfgang W.E. Samuel (born February 2, 1935) is a German-born American author and a veteran of the United States Air Force.

Early years
Born in Germany, ten year-old Samuel fled with his mother and sister from his home town of Sagan (now Zagan in Poland) in 1945 as the Red Army approached. As a Flüchtling (refugee), he underwent privation and re-settlement in the post-war years. His mother was raped and his grandfather was killed by German communists. He describes how he and his mother eventually settled near a U.S. airbase in western Germany, where his mother met and married an American serviceman.

Military career
After the family emigrated to the United States, Samuel attended the University of Colorado at Boulder, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business in 1960, and subsequently the National War College. He served in the United States Air Force for 30 years, retiring with the rank of colonel in 1985. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal multiple times during his years of active duty. As of 2008, he resided in Fairfax Station, Virginia.

Author
As of 2010, Samuel has published seven books. The first, German Boy: A Refugee's Story, is a memoir detailing the war years and his post-war life as a refugee, and features a foreword by historian Stephen Ambrose. His second book, I Always Wanted to Fly: America's Cold War Airmen, is a compilation of oral histories of American aviators of the Cold War era. The War of Our Childhood: Memories of World War II, another oral history compilation, tells of twenty-seven Germans who experienced the war as children. American Raiders: The Race to Capture the Luftwaffe's Secrets, is an account of the efforts made by the United States military to acquire German military technology. Glory Days: The Untold Story of the Men Who Flew the B-66 Destroyer into the Face of Fear recounts some of the adventures of the often unsung crews of the B-66, RB-66 and EB-66 aircraft. His most recent work is Watson's Whizzer's: Operation Lusty and the Race for Nazi Aviation Technology.

Works By Wolfgang W.E. Samuel
978-1-57806-902-6
 * German Boy: A Refugee's Story. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2000.  ISBN 1-57806-482-1
 * I Always Wanted to Fly: America's Cold War Airmen. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2001.  ISBN 1-57806-399-X
 * The War Of Our Childhood: Memories of World War Two. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2002.  ISBN 1-57806-482-1
 * American Raiders: The Race to Capture the Luftwaffe's Secrets. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2004.  ISBN 1-57806-649-2
 * Coming to Colorado: A Young Immigrant's Journey to Become an American Flyer. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2006 ISBN
 * Glory Days: The Untold Story of the Men Who Flew the B-66 Destroyer into the Face of Fear.  Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 2008.  ISBN 0-7643-3086-1, ISBN 978-0-7643-3086-5
 * Watson's Whizzer's: Operation Lusty and the Race for Nazi Aviation Technology.  Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 2010.  ISBN 0-7643-3517-0, ISBN 978-0-7643-3517-4