William didn’t wait. He hired a genealogist the next morning. He needed to know who his father actually was. The report arrived in three days. It didn’t mention an orphanage. It showed an immigration manifest from New York, dated spring 1941.
The records indicated that Henry Van Pelt had arrived on a ship from Lisbon. His birthplace was listed as Germany. He had been sponsored by a distant set of Van Pelt relations in Baltimore. They had signed an affidavit of support to get him into the country.
There were no records of an orphanage because he had never been an orphan. He had a family. He had a home. He had arrived in America months before the war truly began, sponsored by strangers who shared a last name. The entire foundation of his life was a lie!