"Without any hesitation, I pushed the loaf of bread to the center of the table and stated, 'We are all Americans, we don't differentiate by religion.'" (Personal Narrative)

Johann Carl Friedrich Kasten, IV

Johann Kasten, 1945 War: World War, 1939-1945 Branch: Army Unit: 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division Service Location: Omaha Beach; Stalag IX-B and Berga am Elster, Buchenwald, Germany Rank: Private First Class POW: Yes Place of Birth: HI

The story of how a second-generation German American, born in Hawaii, wound up in one of the worst POW camps in the second world war is just as amazing as that short description sounds. "Hans" Kasten grew up in paradise, met Adolf Hitler while visiting Germany as a teenager, was in Hawaii until eight days before December 7, got kicked out of Samoa by the U.S. Navy, and volunteered for the Army infantry so he could land on Normandy on D Day. He displayed incredible bravery while in the hands of the Germans, who despised him for "betraying" the fatherland.