Born in 1937 just three years before the German invasion of Holland on May 10th 1940. The big surprise is how one remembers all the war time traumatic experiences of childhood! The intrigues of secrecy and self preservation coupled with a child's natural delight in the world around him. These were the elements of a normal life for this country boy from Holland. "Sy" shares keen observations of diverse human attitudes, as well as the dynamics of warfare occurring in his own backyard. Always a people-person and interested in machinery. As a young child Nazi occupied and war torn Holland was the only world he knew. His story begins in Snelleveld a small community his parents had moved to from Friesland for his father "Sybe" to take over a job to manage a dairy farm! Baukje, his mother, was a bright and talented lady. Among her talents was her green thumb, both with flowers (with which she always surrounded herself and her family) and vegetables. The vegetables helped them live through times of hunger/starvation. The calm quiet life style came to a thundering halt on May 10th 1945, as German planes flew tree top level for the express purpose of terrorizing the population and boy it worked! In 1943 they moved to Waardenburg area much closer to "Sybe's" work and closer to all kinds of action. For a starter dual railroad tracks with trains served as targets for allied planes. For defense the Germans had lots of Ack-Ack both 88s and heavy machine guns. Which made for what seemed safe entertainment for Sy, who spent many hours watching P51 and P38 and his all time favorite P47. Attacking whatever target presented itself. Another interesting item was the German wood burning trucks described in the book. The V1 rockets were a daily concern as they had a tendency to malfunction coming down causing a big explosion. The V2 flew overhead without concern for the local population. On New Years day January 1st 1945 the Byl house was totally destroyed by English bombers. Causing them to have to move in with not so willing neighbors, creating problems for all, especially 8 yr old Sy as the hosts had never had kids! When the war ended in May 1945, "Sybe" created a new home out of an old German barrack. The the dream of having his own dairy started growing in "Sybe". So thoughts of immigrating started bubbling up, as starting one's own dairy in postwar socialist Holland was out of the question. October 1948 the New Amsterdam boat, took the Byl's to Rockford Michigan, USA where "Sybe" would manage a neat dairy. This is an exciting adventure for 11yr old Sy, who can't wait to get his hands on the tractors and other equipment learning English had some adventuresome moments, but all in all very exciting. His formal education stopped at the 8th grade much to his disgust, Heit needed him on the farm as Pieter got drafted! Sy felt very much cheated, but thanks to the US Army he learned self reliance, and self confidence. Because they taught him if he applied himself and studied hard he could compete with most anybody, thanks to the US Army.