in 1939, freda and lucy found safe haven in south america, while gunter -- gunter volunteered to take up arms against a murderous authoritarian regime from which they just escaped. first was the french foreign legion in africa and later with the british army in burma. world war ii came to a close, and two years later, so did gunter and freda's eight-year separation, when they were reunited in montevideo, uruguay, in 1947, along with tens of thousands of other juice, gunter's surviving family had sought shelter in shanghai. soon, gunter, freda, and my sister lucy found permanent refuge in seattle, washington, on the northwestern edge of our great country. here, they raised two children, including me, the first of my family ever to claim natural born citizenship in the united states. here, they embarked on their own unique american dream. american citizens eventually started running a small successful dry-cleaning business for the next 30 years. here, they labored, loved, made many friends, and had a positive impact on their community. here, they never ceased to be grateful to the count

they found safe haven in south america while gunter promptly volunteered to take up arms against the murderous authoritarian regime from which ust j escaped. first with the french foreign legion in africa. world war ii came to a close and two years later so did gunther and freida's separation. along with tens of thousands of other jews, surviving family had sought shelter in shanghai. soon they found fortunate permanent refuge in seattle, washington, on the northwestern edge of our great country. here they raised two children, including me, but first of my family ever to claim national citizenship in the united states. here they embarked on their own american dream. american citizens eventually starting and r a small successful dry cleaning business for the next 30 years. here they labored, loved, made many friends and had a positive impact on their community. here they never ceased to be great to the country that had given them hope, safety and a new beginning. they fought hard for their american citizenship. they cherished it and nurtured it. they bequeathed neither riches or prope