However, since the authorities correctly surmised his reason for escaping, to avoid repatriation rather than a violent goal such as seeking revenge for Germany's defeat, he was not designated "Dangerous," which would have resulted in a more intense manhunt. Gärtner eventually moved to Boulder, Colorado, where he worked as a construction estimator and architectural consultant, and as retirement approached, relocated to Hawaii. Although he led a quiet life, his wife became increasingly frightened by his blatant refusal to discuss his past. In 1984, after she was about to leave him, he confessed his past to her. At her urging, he went public the following year. He contacted history professor Arnold Krammer, a well-known authority on the history of the 371,000 German POWs held in the United States during World War II. Together they published Hitler's Last Soldier in America (1985). He also appeared on the Today Show, where he "surrendered" to Bryant Gumbel. He effectively became the last World War II German prisoner of war in America. When Gärtner went public, the government was bewildered about what to charge him with regarding his escape. Gärtner was not an illegal immigrant, since he had been brought to the United States against his will. He had not really escaped from prison since all German POWs were to be repatriated to their original homes, and Gärtner was due to be sent back to his hometown in Silesia, which had become a part of Communist Poland. Moreover, as he had escaped after the war had ended, there was some question of whether he was still a prisoner of war. Because of this, he was not charged with any offenses. The FBI announced that it had no further interest in him, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service confirmed it had no interest in deporting him. Gärtner was invited to become a U.S. citizen. Due to bureaucratic delays, it was not until November 2009 that he was finally naturalized as a citizen in South Denver. His wife Jean Clarke divorced him in the 1980s, because he returned to Germany for two years with little communication. For a while he returned to Germany, as his sister lived in Hamburg, but he saw no future for himself in Germany, so he returned to Colorado after several months. He resided in Colorado for the remainder of his life, primarily living in the town of Gunbarrel, Colorado. He and Jean