Eddie Willner (1926-2008) is the book’s central figure and Nina Willner’s father. The Boys in the Light makes Eddie its protagonist, following his life story as it moves through 1930s Germany, his experience of Nazi persecution of Jewish people during World War II, and his later life in peacetime. Although the book recognizes Eddie as a real individual, his personal history is used to illuminate the wider experiences of German Jewish people during wartime and—if they survived the Holocaust—beyond.

Born in Mönchengladbach, Germany, Eddie was sent to Brussels as a child refugee after Kristallnacht in 1938, later joined by his parents. After France fell to the Nazis, the Willners were sent on Transport 31—the forced movement of Jewish people from France into the Nazi extermination system—part of the Vichy government’s appeasement of the Nazi regime. Eddie and his father were sent to Auschwitz III (Blechhammer subcamp), the industrialized forced labor system that fueled the Nazi war economy. During the liberation of Europe by Allied forces, Eddie and his friend Mike Swaab escaped from a forced “death march,” part of the Nazi retreat east. Eddie and Mike came across tanks of the US 3rd Armored Division and were “adopted” by the unit, possibly saving their lives. By the end of the war, Eddie was the sole survivor of his large Jewish family. In 1948, Eddie and Mike emigrated to America and built lives there, Eddie making a career in the US Army. As the book emphasizes, Eddie’s burial at Arlington National Cemetery, with a headstone marked “Auschwitz Survivor,” completes his journey from a nameless prisoner, #A-5662, to a decorated American officer whose story is integrated into the fabric of national remembrance.

Eddie’s story provides the direct, personal perspective of surviving Europe under Nazi rule as a young, Jewish man. Eddie’s survival depends on his resilience, his father’s guidance, and his partnership with fellow inmate Mike Swaab. As a 16-year-old trying to survive, Eddie recalls, “I wanted to look big and strong like a man” (72). This moment captures the pathos of his lost childhood, forced to navigate a system designed to exploit the strong and discard the weak. Eddie’s role in the narrative shifts when he and Mike Swaab escape a forced march from the Langenstein-Zwieberge camp. By warning the American tanks of a German ambush, he enacts his own survivor’s agency for the benefit of the “liberating” troops. Eddie and Mike’s instinctual offer of help to the Americans begins a chain of reciprocal kindnesses, initiating the book’s core story of mutual rescue and adoption. His subsequent “adoption” by the GIs—who provide him with food, clothing, work, and dignity—marks his rehabilitation into a humane system, a personal liberation that echoes the wider freedom of post-war Europe.

Maurits “Mike” Swaab (1915-1999), a Dutch Jewish teenager, was a fellow-prisoner of Eddie during the war, becoming his lifelong friend. In Willner’s narrative, Mike personifies the theme of survival through partnership and mutual aid. His bond with Eddie becomes the book’s primary example of dyadic resilience, as the two boys rely on each other to navigate the camp hierarchies, the brutality of the guards, and the chaos of the death marches in early 1945.

Swaab’s key contribution to the narrative is his role in their joint escape. Their flight and extended evasion in winter terrain highlight the courage and teamwork required to make survival a possibility. This shared ordeal solidifies their bond, transforming them from fellow prisoners into brothers. After being rescued by D Company, Swaab’s journey continues to illustrate the book’s focus on healing, tied to the restoration of trust and agency through structured care. Assigned to the kitchen under the watch of Sergeant “Pepsi” DeCola, Swaab’s gradual recovery and interest in purposeful work demonstrate how compassion and routine can rebuild a sense of safety and belonging after profound trauma. His story connects survivor memory to an intergenerational narrative of a hopeful future through his lifelong friendship with Eddie and Eddie’s family in America.

Elmer Hovland (1921-2012), a tank operative from Kenneth, Minnesota, became the de facto commander of D Company during the 3rd Armored Division’s movement from the Normandy invasions to Belgium and across Germany. He led D Company through some of the 3rd Armored Division’s most intense operations, from the hedgerows of Normandy to the breakout at the Siegfried Line and the Battle of the Bulge. Following these grueling combat experiences, Hovland showed his compassion, breaking refugee protocol by “taking in” the two Jewish escapees, Eddie Willner and Mike Swaab.

Hovland embodies the book’s ideal of competent, values-driven leadership. Raised with a strong Lutheran faith and a Midwestern work ethic, he represents the citizen-soldier who adapts to the extreme pressures of frontline combat without losing his moral compass. His leadership is not based on rank or bravado but on quiet competence, consensus-building, and a deep sense of responsibility for his men. When Hovland orders medical care and kitchen access for Eddie and Mike, he declares, “They’re with us now” (224), anchoring the book’s central thesis that morality is best displayed through action. His decision transforms a military unit into a humanitarian team, reminding the battle-weary soldiers that human compassion is a key part of their purpose in the war. Willner shows that Hovland’s key decision is remembered by veterans at decades of reunions, supporting the creation of lifelong communal bonds and giving moral meaning to the traumatic experiences of war.

Louis “Sam” “Pepsi” DeCola (1919-2016) was the mess sergeant for D Company. From a diner-owning Italian American family in Waltham, Massachusetts, DeCola is the narrative’s primary agent of compassion. His expertise is in nourishment, not combat, and his actions demonstrate how the simple acts of feeding and creating a safe space can be lifesaving.

DeCola’s most important contribution in Willner’s narrative is his design of a gentle, round-the-clock re-feeding protocol for Eddie and Mike. Drawing on his cooking experience, he understands the dangers of reintroducing food to starved bodies and patiently nurses the two teenagers back to health. This act is a demonstration of the practical, expert care that underscores the book’s theme of ordinary virtue having extraordinary impact. DeCola’s emotional function is to repair the boys’ sense of trust and belonging after the total trauma of the camps. By creating a safe, purposeful, and often humorous atmosphere in the mess area, he rebuilds a sense of normalcy and community. DeCola becomes a surrogate parent to the boys, and his decades-long friendship with the Willner family after the war cements his legacy. His story illustrates how small, consistent acts of kindness can shape historical memory and provide a powerful counter-narrative to the dehumanization of war.

First Lieutenant Charles E. Myers (1925-2016) was a platoon leader in D Company whose leadership and battlefield death personify the high cost of the Allied advance into Germany. A decorated college athlete from Pennsylvania, Myers represents the cohort of highly capable junior officers tasked with leading small armor units through the most dangerous phases of the war. He served with distinction through the Ardennes campaign and into the final push across the Rhine.

Myers’s death in action on March 27, 1945, is a pivotal moment in the company’s emotional arc, as described in Willner’s account. The loss of such a respected and fearless leader devastates his crew and reshapes the unit’s dynamics just weeks before the war’s end. His name is engraved on the Tablets of the Missing at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, and his bravery was a frequent topic at postwar veterans’ reunions. He remains a symbol of the leadership and sacrifice that enabled D Company’s mission.

James W. “Jim” Vance (1925-2015) was a Sherman tank gunner from Mississippi who was recognized for valor during the Battle of the Bulge, 1944, where small American tank crews were pitted against elite German SS armor in the close, difficult terrain of the Ardennes. On Christmas Eve, 1944, at Freyneux, Vance’s rapid and accurate fire is credited with stopping a German Panther tank platoon, a decisive action that alters the outcome of the local engagement. Positioned near a church, he engaged multiple Panzers in quick succession, forcing them to withdraw and saving his unit from being overrun.

This event is used by Willner to illustrate how the technical proficiency of a single soldier, working in concert with his crew, could have a strategic impact on the battlefield. In The Boys in the Light, Vance represents the importance of individual skill and courage within the larger context of team-based armored warfare. His legacy is preserved in both official battle narratives and local Belgian histories of the fight around Grandmenil and Freyneux. For the men of D Company, his actions became legendary, earning him the reputation as the unit’s best gunner and serving as a testament to the competence and bravery of the enlisted tank crew.

Fred Headrick Sr. (1920-2010) was a D Company tank operative from Tennessee who served with the company from the Normandy campaign through the end of the war in Germany. After returning from the war, he took on the role of unofficial historian for D Company. By organizing reunions and preserving photographs, letters, and rosters, he ensured the unit’s history was transmitted to new generations and helped connect survivors and their families. His efforts form a crucial bridge between the past and the present.

Headrick was the principal keeper of the unit’s memory and a key source for Willner’s historical research. His interactions with Nina Willner were foundational to the creation of The Boys in the Light. By sharing his extensive collection of materials and his personal recollections, Headrick provided the narrative detail and eyewitness perspective that allowed Willner to reconstruct D Company’s story with the historical and emotional authority of multiple eyewitness statements.

Karl Demerer (1901-1973) was interned in several Nazi labor camps before being sent to the Blechhammer subcamp, where he was appointed a Jewish elder (Judenältester) by the SS. A sometimes controversial figure, his official role was to mediate between the guards and prisoners, a position of significant authority and danger. He is named repeatedly in survivor testimonies, often for his efforts to protect inmates.

Willner draws on Demerer to illustrate the moral complexity and risk faced by inmate functionaries in the Nazi camp system. His significance to The Boys in the Light lies in his use of micro-resistance within a genocidal system. He is shown using coded Yiddish speech during roll calls to pass on vital information, such as warning new arrivals to keep small valuables for bartering. Demerer’s actions demonstrate how individuals could exercise a form of moral agency even when subjected to extreme coercion.