Frank van Lunteren was born and raised in Arnhem, the Netherlands. He has been interested in military history, and particularly airborne operations, since he was a child. He originally conducted research on the wartime service of Ted Bachenheimer (1923–44), the famous top scout of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment during World War II. But his contacts proliferated, as did his project, and he has published three books on 504th PIR: The Battle of the Bridges, Blocking Kampfgruppe Peiper and Spearhead of the Fifth Army.