Andersen, 'Rolling W' get final orders

New Ulm man, 89th visit Tomb of Unknown Soldier

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Nearly 60 years after World War II ended, veterans of the 89th Infantry Division and their families, members of the first unit to come upon a Nazi concentration camp, recently held their final reunion in Washington, D.C.

Robert Andersen of New Ulm was a member of the U.S. Army's 89th Infantry Division, a.k.a. The Rolling W.

The first vice president of the non-profit organization representing the unit, Andersen joined hundreds of veterans, their spouses and families in the amphitheater. Widows of recently deceased unit members presented a rose.

Among his final duties was the laying of the division wreath with a soldier escort at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va.

Now, 81, Andersen served more than 22 years in the Army, Army Reserve and National Guard. He worked at Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing in St. Paul and New Ulm. Andersen is now retired and living in New Ulm.

"There aren't many of us left. Everybody is at least pushing 80," Andersen said.

The 89th served with distinction during combat operations in Europe from March to May 1945. Their wartime duty was brief but intense at times. They came upon a Nazi work camp, crossed the Rhine River in landing crafts and paddled before dawn between St. Goar and St. Goarshausen in March of 1945 under heavy fire from automatic weapons.

Andersen still remembers how difficult the river crossing was. He wasn't hit but many of his friends were. Many of them didn't make it.

According to a New York Times story, the river was swift, turbulent and very cold. After the crossing, the Division flag was hoisted at the top of nearby Lorelei Cliff.

Almost 60 years ago, Andersen and the 89th came upon Ohrdruf, a work camp. It was not an extermination camp but the difference can be hard to tell.

Prisoners were literally worked to death and disposed of by burning in incinerators. As the allies approached, Nazi guards panicked. Inmates that couldn't walk were shot.

Other prisoners were force-marched elsewhere. Most of them died in the effort.

Almost a half century after World War II ended, veterans of the 89th and their families visited France and Germany as part of their final Tour of Remembrance.

Survivors visited Ohrdruf, but found nothing but a prisoner of war graveyard and German Army Training Camp.

The 89th's discovery of Ohrdruf is memorialized in the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.

For more information, visit http://www.89.infdivww2.org/ohrdruf/

Fritz Busch can be e-mailed at fbusch@nujournal.com