Retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Adolf Wesselhoeft was born in September 1936 in Chicago, Illinois, of German parents who were not yet American citizens. His parents spoke only English with him and he had a normal early childhood. His father managed rental apartments in a good neighborhood, but the Wesselhoefts were declared enemy aliens, and his father spent time at the McCoy prisoner of war camp in Wisconsin. While his father was away, the Wesselhoefts' apartment was searched by FBI agents, and in 1942, the Wesselhoeft family was taken under armed guard to a camp in Crystal City, Texas. There they lived in a little bungalow, with simple accommodations, among all the "critters" that are common to that area. During the year they stayed there, Wesselhoeft started school and said he learned the German language and a lot about the American philosophy and way of life from comic books about super-heroes. The time was "pretty uneventful," and Wesselhoeft often occupied himself making model airplanes that were powered by rubber bands. Eventually the family was transported to New York, where they boarded the Gripsholm, a neutral ship on its way to Portugal. Although Wesselhoeft was an American citizen by birth, he was considered a "volunteer deportee", as he accompanied his parents out of the country.

At sea on the Gripsholm, Adolf Wesselhoeft had his first impression that the world was at war. When he arrived in Portugal, he got winter clothes, and traveled by train through France to Hamburg, Germany. It was a seafaring city with submarine bases that became a major target for the Allies. It was bombed day and night, and the Wesselhoefts often had to take shelter in their suburb of Steinkirchen on the Luhe River. In the daytime, Wesselhoeft could watch the air battles. The war ended a year after they arrived, but the family had a difficult time; food was scarce and the American troops were confiscating the local livestock and produce. Wesselhoeft remembers that Buna rubber from the German aircraft tires was sought after to make shoe soles and many other things. Also, all the German factories were dismantled and shipped to Britain, Russia and France. The Wesselhoefts had to figure out how to work around the British checkpoints to access goods on the black market. Wesselhoeft's bicycle and toys were used for trade. Between 1945 and 1948 he and his friends were making a living any way they could and sharing food with the cattle. The occupying troops, according to Wesselhoeft, had the food, the nylons, the clothes and the girls, which was a "rubbing point" with the local boys.

Adolf Wesselhoeft feels fortunate that the war ended before he had to join the Hitler youth. His home fell within the British Zone of Germany, which was occupied by kilted Scottish troops initially, eventually replaced by regular British troops. He competed for a place in the gymnasium, and went back to school. Wesselhoeft's parents decided to move to Konstanz, on the Swiss border, a city that had not been bombed out, and he continued his education there. In 1948, the Marshall Plan made a big difference in their lives. The German factories were rebuilt, incorporating the latest technology. The shelves were stocked with commercial goods, except in the Russian Zone, where things stayed "pretty dire," according to Wesselhoeft. He completed his studies at the gymnasium in 1957, just after his mother died of cancer. His father had gotten him another bicycle, and he traveled on it for two days to get to the American Consulate in Stuttgart to see if he could go back to the United States, where he held citizenship. He worked hard to get money for his return in 1958, and soon after he landed in New York he enlisted in the Air Force for four years.

The Air Force sent Adolf Wesselhoeft to Lackland Air Force Base for basic training. He became a ground photographer, and shipped out to Yakota, Japan to serve with the Recon Tech Squadron at Yakota Air Base for two years. He developed aerial photography and learned to fly Cessna airplanes. When he was sent back to the United States in 1960, Wesselhoeft worked at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, transferring military drawings to cards. He applied again for a pilot's position, but was sent for training as a navigator to Harlingen Air Force Base, Texas, and got his commission in 1962. From there he went to Mather Air Force base in California to become an electronic warfare officer, and chose Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas to work on perfecting countermeasures that confuse the enemy. He stayed there from 1962 to 1967, and when he tried again for a pilot's position, he was told he was too old.

The next conflict Adolf Wesselhoeft became involved in was the Vietnam war. He was sent to Korat Royal Air Base [Annotator's Note: in Thailand] for a year with the EC-121R [Annotator's Note: Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star radar surveillance aircraft], a project of McNamara [Annotator's Note: Robert McNamara was U.S. Secretary of Defense under President John F. Kennedy] to seed the Ho Chi Minh Trail with sensors that could identify movement on the road. Wesselhoeft feels it was a good system that got bogged down in the bureaucracy, and was eventually scrapped. Wesselhoeft mentioned that while he was on the project, he was often within range of radioactive materials. He was moved to a position escorting entertainment troops, and watched Bob Hope and his crew perform, which he thought was great. [Annotator's Note: Wesselhoeft smiles.] Wesselhoeft said it was uplifting for the troops to have such top-quality entertainment while they were away from home. The most interesting bases, according to Wesselhoeft, were the ones in the jungle, where the Rangers were armed with bandoliers of ammunition and grenades. Safety was a tricky issue as he traveled around with the USO [Annotator's Note: United Service Organizations] groups, as was the task of staying healthy. Wesselhoeft was exposed to Agent Orange [Annotator's Note: a cancer causing herbicide and defoliant chemical used by the United States military over the jungles of Vietnam] in the process and suffered from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma twice, losing his sight during the second bout. He can no longer see color, and has only a little vision in his left eye. He also has hearing loss from being on the flight line all the time.

Adolf Wesselhoeft returned to the United States and more training to be an electrical engineer. He studied at the University of Missouri for two years, and after he earned his degree, he went to Wurtsmith Air Force Base with the Eighth Air Force working on the B-52H [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber] model airplanes. That aircraft carried nuclear weapons, Wesselhoeft said, the enemy at the time was Russia, and it was a sensitive era, keeping the Russians "on their toes." He questions the state of the industry these days. He had another TDY [Annotator's Note: Temporary Duty Assignment] to U-Tapao [Annotator's Note: U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield] and Guam, Andersen Air Force Base in the B-52D model in conventional warfare, bombing North Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos and flying other crazy missions. Wesselhoeft spent several years as an electrical engineer, then became a civil engineer until he retired in 1980.

After Adolf Wesselhoeft retired from the U.S. Air Force, he worked on the Strategic Petroleum Reserves along the coast of Texas and Louisiana as an engineer maintaining the sites. He spent his entire working career with the United States Government. Wesselhoeft said that even though he had been imprisoned by the United States, deported by the United States, and bombed by the United States while he was exiled in Germany, he dedicated his life to the United States Government because he loved America. He pointed out that no other country he experienced during his lifetime lived by principles like those in the U.S. Constitution, and it's the thing that made America great. Revisiting his childhood in Germany, Wesselhoeft recalls he lived in a small house with his grandparents and a couple of refugees, and it was quite a change from Chicago. Learning the language was the most difficult thing he encountered. He learned to play the guitar and dance, and generally found the Germans a very inventive people. The American Consulate kept track of him throughout his stay. While he was in Konstanz, he lost a friend who got killed trying to help people cross the wall between East and West Germany. Wesselhoeft has never gone back to Germany.

Participating in German cultural activities was important to Adolf Wesselhoeft while he was in exile. He mentioned that Adolf Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] was using the maturing females as "soldier factories," and he didn't get involved in that. But the music and dancing and literature was interesting to learn. His decision to return to the United States hinged on his early exposure to American hero figures and the philosophy he understood from them. He remembered that the American people were kind and generous, whereas the Germans were withdrawn, especially during the war years, when everybody had to be careful of government restrictions.

Adolf Wesselhoeft asserts that World War 2 changed his life by making him aware of the difference between American and German governmental systems: being free or being controlled. He thinks Americans can still follow their dreams. Wesselhoeft thinks the legacy of the war is the fact that America led the way, paid an unimaginable price, but did what it took to win. The flag, the Constitution and religion are victorious. He feels it important that institutions like The National WWII Museum are important because the story has to be proclaimed, and the museum has a big responsibility in telling the story and promoting the values that were learned through hard work and determination. He thinks it important that Americans recognize that Germans were interned during the war, and never had legal representation, nor have they had reparation in the way the Japanese did, not that he's asking for that, during the Reagan [Annotator's Note: President Ronald Reagan] administration, or recognized in the way the Italians were during the Clinton [Annotator's Note: President William J. "Bill" Clinton] administration. He believes that history, and the National Park Service plackards, need to acknowledge what happened to the Germans and Italians as well as the Japanese.