In the Ukraine during World War II, a father sends his little son to live with his brother and his wife. Shortly thereafter, the father joins the partisans in the East, while his brother, wife, and the boy proceed West with the retreating Germans. On the way, the boy is forced to fend for himself while his aunt and uncle pursue various jobs. They finally arrive in Berlin, where they work helping a flower and vegetable grower amidst many bombings and much suspense.

In about a year, the Russians enter Berlin, and the war ends. The aunt, uncle, and boy prepare to return to their homeland-but the boy doesn't want to go. On the way East, he escapes, returning to the flower grower, who is reluctant to have anything to do with the boy for fear of Russian retaliation.

After several days, no Russians appear, and life returns to normal. Soon, the boy is enrolled in a German school and does well. After a few years, the flower grower receives a letter, supposedly from the boy's father, asking the grower to return the boy. The flower grower and the boy ignore the letter. Soon another one arrives and is treated like the first. A month later, two men arrive and ask for the boy who, fortunately, is in school, a process repeated several more times. The flower grower and his wife have had enough, and they contact the authorities.

One day, a woman and a man meet the boy, identifying themselves as being from the district government. To prevent the Russians from kidnapping him, he must accompany the woman immediately, without saying good bye to anyone. Within a couple weeks, the boy is smuggled out of Berlin on an American Army train. After two weeks in a displaced persons' refugee camp in Hanau, West Germany, the boy is driven to the International Refugee Organization (IRO) Children's Village in Bad Aibling.

His case worker tells the boy he cannot live in the children's village forever. The boy tells the case worker he wants to go to the United States, but the case worker says her job is to return him to his parents. To do anything else, the boy's father must give them his permission-permission the boy doubts he'll get. The boy asks a girl who knows Polish to write a letter asking his father for permission to emigrate to the United states. To the boy's surprise, the father gives him the required permission. After the appropriate vetting, the boy is sent to an American family in Wisconsin and begins life in the United States.

He graduates high school in the Wisconsin Dells, studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and plays in the marching bands of both schools. Nevertheless, he still feels like a foreigner. His dream is to become a full-fledged American. As soon as he's been in the United States for five years, he applies for naturalization. Four months later, he becomes an American citizen. With a bachelor's degree in physics from UW, he attains a master's degree in physics from North Carolina State University. In the Air Force, he marries and receives orders to report to the Defense Atomic Support Agency-the successor to the Manhattan Project-at the Pentagon. After fathering a son and daughter, he retires from his job as an Air Force subcontractor and moves to Florida, where he now enjoys watching his grandchildren grow.