The 99th Battalion

Abstract

5 w o r k s i n p r o g r e s s The 99th Battalion Kyle Ward and Odd S. Lovoll Our forthcoming book, Viking Battalion: The Norwegian-­ American’s War against Hitler, looks at the 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate), which was a unit made up specifically of Norwegian Americans and Norwegians in exile. While this unique unit would serve in Europe and be connected to some of the most famous battles and events in that theater of war, it quickly disappeared from the history books after the war ended. The 99th was originally formed by the U.S. War Department in the summer of 1942. It was not the only “ethnic” unit the U.S. military tried to create during the war; others included the 100th (Japanese American), the 101st (Austrian American ), and the 122nd (Greek American) Infantry Battalions. While the 101st and 122nd never really came to complete fruition, the 100th, along with its counterpart , the 442nd (made up of second-­ generation Japanese Americans), went on to receive a great deal of recognition for their service. For their part, the 99ers were originally organized at Camp Ripley, Minnesota , and then sent down to Fort Snelling, Minnesota, for the first few months of 6 works in progress their existence. Then the army sent this group to Camp Hale, Colorado, to begin an extremely rigorous training regime in the high altitudes of the Rocky Mountains, where they were trained in mountain climbing, skiing, and winter survival. During their training in Colorado, the 99th was reviewed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the commander-­ in-­ chief. A small part of our book will investigate this brief but highly publicized encounter. We believe that this small unit was highlighted by the president, and given a great deal of publicity, in order to send a message to Germany that the United States was preparing to invade Norway. If the Figure 1. Men of the 99th during their training at Fort Snelling, Minnesota in the fall of 1942. After organizing at Camp Ripley, Minnesota, the 99th briefly trained at Fort Snelling before moving on to finish their training in Colorado. Author Kyle Ward’s personal collection. 7 the 99th battalion message was received and believed by Germany, Hitler would be forced to keep his 350,000 soldiers, plus their supporting planes, tanks, and ships, in Norway, rather than deploying them to other likely continental invasion sites, such as the Normandy region in France. After training at Camp Hale, the 99th was sent to England and then, rather than going to Norway, actually landed on the Normandy beaches about two weeks after the initial invasion. From there, this relatively unknown group of highly-­ trained soldiers was sent across Europe, and participated in some of the most important and significant events in the European theater. A quick scan of their service record shows that they were at Cherbourg, held off SS attacks at the Battle of the Bulge, saved some of the survivors of the Malmedy massacre, guarded the gold and artwork found at Merkers Mine (depicted in the book and movie Monuments Men), and helped liberate the Buchenwald concentration camp. Figure 2. Two soldiers standing by a sign at Camp Hale, Colorado. The 99th would train at Camp Hale from December 1942 to August 1943, where they were put through some of the most strenuous training the U.S. Army had to offer. Author Kyle Ward’s personal collection. 8 works in progress After the final surrender of Germany in May of 1945, the 99th was finally sent to Norway, where they were given the honor of serving as King Haakon VII’s honor guard upon his return from exile. While the men were excited simply to finally get to Norway, some official duties remained, such as helping to remove the remaining German forces and working with Norwegian police and military to get them reestablished. On a more personal note, they also played a lot of soccer against Norwegian teams, spent time reconnecting with immediate or distant family , and for a few dozen, meeting their future wives. Figure 3. Men of the 99th with medical training were part of the original group...