Between Two Flags

An American in the German Army 1942-1945

For those who are Band of Brothers fans.

Based on Real D-Day Events: On D-Day, a red-haired paratrooper from the 101st Airborne—Easy Company halts a column of German POWs and asks one a simple question: “Where you from?”

He answers, “Eugene, Oregon.”

Heinrich “Henry” Keller wasn’t born American—he immigrated from Germany to Oregon, found honest work, married Mary, and became a father. In 1939 he returns to Hesse for a brief family visit and is trapped by war. Conscripted into the Wehrmacht, he fights with the 12th Infantry Division in Poland and France, endures the Russian winter, and is reassigned to Normandy with the 91st Luftlande Division. He obeys to survive, yet dreads aiming at Americans; one night he nearly defects before fear of a firing squad—and losing his family—pulls him back.

At home, Mary endures whispers as the “enemy’s wife,” steadied by church and a daughter’s questions. Captured near Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, Henry must finally face the life he left—and the mercy still waiting.