When Rolf Engelhard came to the United States in 1963 on a Green Card, he was planning to stay only a year or two. He said he wanted a break from the German education system, but he also had another goal in mind -- to buy a 1963 Thunderbird to take back home to Germany. He soon landed a job with Chrysler in Highland Park, Michigan, maintaining assembly line machinery, and he bought his Thunderbird but was met with an immediate disappointment. He thought all the American highway speed limits were very low. For a young man used to driving on the German Autobahn that offers an unrestricted high-speed lane, our domestic 60 to 70-mile-an-hour highway speed limits in the 1960s had to be a crushing setback.

Ten months later, Rolf confronted an even greater frustration to his plans for returning to Germany; he received a notice from the U.S. Selective Service System to report for his pre-induction physical. He reported as directed and was soon assigned to the Army's 9th Infantry Division. Ultimately, he served as a driver for a company commander in Vietnam.