They were young Jewish boys who escaped from Nazi-occupied Europe and resettled in America. After the U. S. entered the war, they returned to fight for their adopted homeland and for the families they had left behind.Sons and Soldiers begins during the menacing rise of Hitler's Nazi party, as Jewish families tried desperately to get out of Europe. Bestselling author Bruce Henderson captures the heart-breaking stories of parents saving their young sons by sending them to America, perhaps never to see them again. As these boys became young men, they were determined to join the fight in Europe, where their mastery of the enemy's language and psychology made them ideally suited to be special interrogators of German POWs. Known as the Ritchie Boys, they knew what might happen to them if they were captured, yet they went anyway. A postwar Army report credited them with collecting nearly sixty percent of the credible intelligence gathered in Europe.Sons and Soldiers is an epic story of heroism, courage, and patriotism that will not soon be forgotten.

A revelatory work about a group of Jewish men whose World War II journeys are so implausible and heroic it's difficult to understand why so few of us knew about them before now. A book of fear, flight and almost divine retribution. --Steve Twomey, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Countdown to Pearl Harbor
A first-rate account of one of the last, great untold stories of World War II. --Steven P. Remy, author of The Malmedy Massacre
Bruce Henderson's Sons and Soldiers artfully evokes the drama of the persecution and flight -- and later, their brave return as soldiers -- of German-born Jewish sons to America, where they found a new home and a divine purpose. More than an enlightening history, it is a stellar addition to the literature of human survival and triumph. --Colin Heaton, author of The German Aces Speak and The Star of Africa
This coming-of-age saga is a story of patriotism and courage unlike any other from World War II. An unforgettable story and a great read, told in Bruce Henderson's poignant and powerful style. --Bill Sloan, author of Their Backs Against the Sea
Sons and Soldiers is the riveting -- and long neglected -- story of Jewish refugees from Nazi barbarism who fought an intensely personal war for America. Bruce Henderson has delivered a fast-paced and rich narrative. --Douglas Waller, author of Disciples: The World War II Missions of the CIA Directors Who Fought for Wild Bill Donovan
A triumph! More than seventy years after World War II ended, historians scramble to unearth a fresh story. With Sons and Soldiers, Bruce Henderson has found one. This gripping account of German Jews who fled their nation only to return as members of an elite U.S. Army unit to help defeat the Nazis, tugs at every emotion. --John Wukovits, author of Tin Can Titans
An invaluable, must-read addition to the canon of important WWII books, about the thousands of European-born American soldiers whose own odysseys were ingrained in the 20th Century's two most significant narratives: the Holocaust and the Allied war against their families' oppressors in Nazi Germany. --Steven Karras, author of The Enemy I Knew: German Jews in the Allied Military in World War II
Thrilling. ... Gripping. ... An overdue tribute to these unique Americans. --Kirkus Reviews (starred)
Henderson is a skilled storyteller. Sons and Soldiers records concrete acts of courage, commitment, compassion... and, of course, unspeakable cruelty. --San Francisco Chronicle
Sons and Soldiers tells the remarkable story of how 2,000 German-born Jews were able to get the crucial intelligence that saved American lives and helped win World War II. ... The message of their courage and patriotism should not be lost in today's war on terrorism. --Leon Panetta, Former Director of the CIA and Former Secretary of Defense