On March 26 1945, Company C and one platoon of Company D's M3 Stuart light tanks of the 37th Tank Battalion reported to Captain Abraham J. Baum for a special task force mission. Besides elements of the 37th, it consisted of Company A, a reconnaissance platoon, and an assault gun platoon from the 10th Armored Infantry Battalion. The task force numbered 11 officers, 296 enlisted men, 10 M4 Sherman medium tanks, 6 M3 Stuart light tanks, 27 halftracks, 3 105mm assault guns, 7 jeeps and 1 cargo carrier. The mission: liberate an estimated 200-300 American prisoners of war in Stalag OFLAG XIII-B at Hammelburg, sixty miles behind German lines. The orders came from General Patton himself.
Later on it will become evident that the reason for this raid could have been that General Patton knew that his son in law, Lt.Col. John Waters, was kept as a prisoner at Hammelburg, and that this was the main reason for the raid. Later on, Patton would deny the accusation, but there is some proof in a letter written to his wife, just after the task force had left. Patton mentions that he 'sent a column east, where John (Waters) and some 900 prisoners are said to be,...'

B Company of the 37th Tank Battalion and B Company of the 10th Armored Infantry Battalion would punch a hole in the German lines at Schweinheim. The city was later known as Bazooka City because of heavy fighting and the delay it caused to the task force mission. Through this hole went Task Force Baum, which in turn found itself alone in the enemy area.

Along the way, the task force shot up 6 to 12 trains, some barges on the Main River, a German Army exercise yard and a German convoy of 88mm flak guns. They captured German prisoners, knocked down telephone poles and cut telephone lines.

At Gemunden, the task force met heavy resistance as the town contained a marshalling yard for a German infantry battalion. After losing some of the M4 Sherman tanks and infantry, it was forced to turn around and go north when the Germans blew up the bridge over the Saale River. On the way north to Burgsinn, the task force was harassed by Germans firing at them from across the Sinn River. They captured German soldiers who tried to surrender to them. The Germans did not know the size of the task force and thought that the whole of Patton's Army was attacking. They surprised and captured a German General and his staff as they were driving along the road. The task force crossed the Sinn River at Burgsinn and headed toward Grafendorf. On the road to Grafendorf the task force liberated a Russian POW camp of about 700 Russians. The task force left the German General and his staff with the Russians. all this unforseen business slowed down the task force on their mission. The German General managed to escape from the Russians and was free to alert the German Army of the size of the task force.

After they left the next small town of Weickersgruben and headed up a hillside near Hammelburg, the task force met up with heavier German resistance in the form of 9 self-propelled 75 mm Hetzer tank destroyers. After battling through this resistance and losing more tanks, halftracks and infantry, the task force approached the OFLAG XIII-B prisoner of war camp south of Hammelburg.

After liberating the POW camp, Captain Baum found that the camp contained not 200-300 prisoners but over 1500. He could not possibly carry this many POW's back to the American lines. He decided to carry as many as could fit on the halftracks and tanks he had left and told the rest of the prisoners "Do the best you can".

Lt.Col. John Waters, the son in law of General Patton, was wounded in the lower back and buttocks when a German guard opened fire upon this officer he saw walking with a white flag, which was a request by Colonel Von Goeckel, the camp commander. He was treated by a Serbian doctor, and it became evident, Waters could not be moved.

Short on gas, the task force tried to find a way back to the American lines. Unknowingly, they were in the midst of a German Army training compound complete with telephone communications and bunkers. The Germans were starting to encircle the area with artillery and infantry. Surrounded at Hill 427, a mile east of Hollrich, the Germans attacked the remainder of the task force. Captain Baum later recalled: "All our vehicles were knocked out and burning and the infantry was being blown to bits by direct tank fire". It was every man for himself. Those of the task force that survived the final battle were taken prisoner and returned to the OFLAG XIII-B Stalag. The whole mission lasted from 21.00 hours March 26, 1945 as the task force waited to move through Schweinheim to 06.00 hours on March 28, 1945. Although they did not accomplish their mission successfully, the tankers and infantry of Task Force Baum contributed a great deal to the Central European Campaign. No less than an entire German Corps was diverted to the seeking out and destruction of the two-company task force.

One of the victims of this raid was the famous 'Cobra King', the M4A3E2 Jumbo, the first tank into Bastogne. The inside of the tank was burned out heavily when it was recovered. It was placed as a monument at Erlangen and later at Vilseck, Germany, before it was discovered as the famous tank, and shipped back to the United States for restoration. It is now on display at Fort Benning, Georgia.

The reason for such a ridiculous mission surfaced after WWII. General Patton knew that his son in law Lt.Col. John Waters was a prisoner of war at OFLAG XIII-B. He sent Major Stiller, a member of Patton's staff, along with the task force to recognize and free him. As quoted in his journal Patton remarked: "I can say this, that throughout the campaign in Europe, I know of no error I made except that I did not send a combat command (instead of a task force) to Hammelburg".
Hammelburg was liberated on April 9, when troops of the 14th Armored Division smashed the gates with their tanks. Here they found some men from the Task Force Baum, including the wounded commander Captain Abraham Baum, and Lt.Col. Waters.

1st Lt. Wrolson was among the task force survivors and had become a POW. As the American Army neared Hammelburg, most of the prisoners in OFLAG XIII-B were shipped by train to Nuremburg and then spent two weeks marching to Stalag VIIA near Moosburg, Germany. The US Army liberated the Stalag on April 29, 1945.

After liberation and the end of WWII, Lt Wrolson was shipped back to the US and remembers sailing past the Statue of Liberty in New York. He spent part of his Army leave in Hot Springs Arkansas. He then was sent to Camp McCoy in Wisconsin where he received his Army discharge.

Patton his Third Army had achieved a remarkable success, with units attached who had no battle experience what so ever, among them the 4th Armored Division. Below a segment of the General Order for VE (Victory in Europe) in which General praises HIS Third Army:

'...During the 281 days of incessant and victorious combat, your penetration have advanced farther in less time than every other army in history, you have fought your way across 24 major rivers and innumerable lesser streams. You have liberated or conquered more than 82.000 square miles of territory, including 1,500 cities and towns and some 12,000 inhabited places. Prior to the termination of active hostilities you had captured in battle 956,000 enemy soldiers and killed or wounded at least 500.000 others. France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia bear witness to your exploits...'

For its actions from 22 December 1944 through 27 March 1945, The 4th Armored Division became the first U.S. Armored Division to be awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.(cited; WD GO 54, 1945).

Because the unit in which Walter Wrolson did his service for a minimum of six months of extraordinarily meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services during the time of military operations against an armed enemy, it was also rewarded with the Meritorious Unit Commendation.

---

- POSTWAR -

Walter had earned the right to the GI Bill. This government program paid for college for returning war veterans. Walter decided to try Dentistry. In the fall of 1945, Walter entered the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities. Because he had one year credit for his year at St Cloud Teachers College, he needed only one year and one summer session to complete his pre-Dentistry and get into the Dental School. Walter entered Dental School in the fall of 1946. While living at the Psi Psi Phi Dental Fraternity House in his second year of Dental School (1947-1948) Walter and his fraternity brother Bob Thompson went to a dance at a prom/ballroom on University Avenue in the Cities. There Walter met Arloine Isfeld from Porter, Minnesota who was working in the Veterans Administration at Fort Snelling. Walter continued to date her through his Sophomore year. Walter went home to North Dakota in the summer of 1948 and after returning to Minneapolis/St Paul in the fall of 1948 for his Junior he continued to date Ms Isfeld. They must have liked each other as on December 26, 1948 at a small church in Minneota, Minnesota they were married. Walter and Arloine found themselves a small upstairs apartment on St Clair Avenue in St Paul for $50/month. Arloine kept working as Walter finished his Junior and Senior years in Dentistry. Walter graduated with a Doctorate of Dental Surgury in the spring of 1950.

Walter and the love of his life, Arloine

They moved to Starbuck, Minnesota where Walter opened his dental practice. In early 1951 while Arloine was pregnant with their first child (daughter Patricia Ann) Walter was called back into the Army for service in the Korean War. After he explained that he had his dental degree, the Army assigned him to Fort Knox, Kentucky where he gained valuable dental experience working on the countries soldiers. Arloine stayed with her mother and father in Porter Minnesota until after Patricia Ann was born (June 23, 1952). Then Arloine and Patricia moved down to Fort Knox, Kentucky and the Wrolsons lived in a rented officers apartment.

Walt Wrolson became a member of 'American Legion - Post 27' in Warren

In late 1952, Walter was discharged from Army service again and the Wrolsons moved back to Walters dental practice in Starbuck, Minnesota. Business was pretty slow and Arloine was pregnant with their second child (son Wayne Walter). Walter decided to check into finding a town where his practice would prosper. A dental supply company representative told Walter of a small town in Northern Minnesota named Warren that could use another dentist. Walter made the trip up North and was happy to hear from one of the current dentists that he would be welcome.

Doc Wrolson's started his first practise here, in the K.J. Taralseth Building

Walter called back to Starbuck to inform Arloine. Arloine was not real keen on the prospect of moving so far away from her parents in Porter, Minnesota. Walter convinced her by telling her that she could go home to visit whenever she would like. In the spring of 1953, Walter moved up to Warren to begin his dental practice there. Arloine again stayed with her parents until little Wayne was born (August 29, 1953). Then she moved up to Warren to begin their life in Warren, Minnesota. They lived in a rented house on Fourth Street until 1956. They then had a house built at 725 East Fletcher with the help of Walters father Theodore who gave them the money for a down payment on the home. Walters first office in Warren was on the second floor in the K.J. Taralseth Building on the SW corner of Johnson and Main.

Family Wrolson, mother Arloine, daughter Patricia Ann, son Wayne and Walter (photo courtesy by: Kay Root)

In 1969, his office moved across the street to the first floor of the old State Bank of Warren building on the NW corner of Johnson and Main. Walter bought new office equipment and for the first time in his practice had more than one dental chair. In the summer of 1970, the building caught on fire and burned down. He then built a small dental office building at 421 Fletcher Avenue not far from his house.

Warren, Minnesota hit the headlines in 1979, when on August 27 Deputy Sheriff Val Johnson saw a strange light in a field beside the road he was driving on in his patrol car. When he tried to investigate the light by driving on a dirtroad towards it, it suddely turned on him in a remarkable speed, it smashed upon his windshield, and blinded the Deputy. It would go into the historybooks as a 'close encounter of the third kind' with a UFO. The patrol car with the smashed windshield is now on show in the Marshall County Historical Society Museum.

When Doc Wrolson was 84, in 2003, an article was written by son Wayne
for the 'Warren Sheaf', the local weekly newspaper

(Click on the article for an enlargment)

Walter was a member of the Lions Club, Chamber of Commerce, Legion Post 27, Our Saviors Lutheran Church and the local Warren Golf Club. Walter served as Boy Scout Leader for a couple of years when his son Wayne participated in the scouting program Warren Troop 50.

In 1986, Walter suffered a heart attack and decided to retire from dentistry. Walter and Arloine enjoyed retirement with vacation trips around the US. On July 3 1996, Walter lost his beloved Arloine to cancer. He continued his retirement by participating in his church and local Warren activities.

Wood carvings by Walter Wrolson

He enjoys wood carving and has a very attractive and impressive collection of carved birds, cars and various humorous figures. He particularly enjoys chip carving and everyone who receives one of his chip carved plates (which he turns himself on his wood lathe) is impressed with their quality.

Everyone enjoys the fantastic sculptures Walter made,...

In early 2006, Walter decided to move to an apartment at Parkwood Place in Grand Forks as he decided to relieve himself of the daily chores of home ownership. He enjoys the pleasant atmosphere there and has made friends of many of his apartment neighbors. Early on Wednesday morning May 4, 2011 Walter quietly passed away at Parkwood Place in Grand Forks.

Walter Woodrow Wrolson - September 8, 1919 - May 4, 2011

---

Sources: Wayne Wrolson - Walter Woodrow Wrolson History 2011: 4Th Armored Division in World war II, George Forty (2008), ISBN 978-0-7603-3160-6: Raid on Hammelburg article (After the Batle #91), Karel Margry: Letters between Wayne Wrolson and Don Moriarty (Patton Museum): TwinCities.com (Pioneer Express) on UFO incident, Warren: 'Ballade of Casey Jones' Lyrics Provided by The Casey Jones Museum http://www.trainweb.org/caseyjones/song.html: 'WWII Journal #3, Battle of the Bulge', editor Ray Merriam, 2007.

---