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War: Little-Known Facts About a Familiar Hero

By Stan Friedman

IRAQ (September 13, 2005) - Following is the second in a six-part series taking an in-depth look at the ministry of Evangelical Covenant Church chaplains in war-torn Iraq and the people they are called to serve.

Many people know the legendary Karl A. Olsson as the one-time president of North Park College and Theological Seminary, an author, historian, great intellect and U.S. Army chaplain during World War II and the Korean War.

What many people - including many of his closest friends and colleagues - never knew was that he was a genuine war hero, earning the Silver Star for bravery in combat and the Bronze Star for meritorious service.

Olsson was a chaplain and a captain in the 11th Armored Division, known as "Thunderbolt." The division was part of General George Patton's Third Army as it pushed across Europe until the war ended.

Olsson suffered through the bitter cold at the Battle of the Bulge and advanced with the division as it spearheaded the Allied offensive against the Siegfried Line, a 392-mile German defensive position.

Olsson would be honored for his bravery along the line on the night of February 6, 1945. According to the Army citation letter for his Silver Star, Olsson "voluntarily attached himself to a medical detachment that was moving under cover of darkness at Heckuscheid, Germany."

A patrol that was sent forward suffered 11 casualties in a minefield, according to the citation. Olsson organized teams that he led into the minefield to pull the men to safety. A fellow chaplain, Myron Madden, says the other soldiers literally followed in Olsson's footsteps during repeated trips into the field, carefully stepping in the tracks he left behind on the snow-packed ground.

"Despite snow, darkness and the constant threat of hostile action from enemy lines only a few hundred yards away, Chaplain Olsson's calm and courageous action and disregard for personal safety was an inspiration to his men and in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Army," the citation letter reads.

As happens in recording history, there are differences in reports. An article published in the June 1, 1945 edition of the North Park College News differs from the official account on the number of soldiers injured and the location of where Olsson was when he was notified.

The article recounts that Olsson was on duty at an aid station when, "Suddenly a mud-caked soldier dashed frantically to the nearest medic. Half-sobbing, he asked for help to remove nine of his buddies, infantrymen who had been wounded and trapped on a minefield. 'I'll go after those, men,' Capt. Olsson said quietly. 'And we'll help the chaplain,' chorused the medical men."

Madden tells a somewhat different story, saying the soldiers initially refused to accompany the captain into the minefield. "So, Karl threatened them with court martial."

When Olsson was asked why he took the risk of entering the minefield, he said that he could not live with himself had he left the soldiers to die, Madden recalls. Olsson's work of fiction, The God Game, was inspired by that event, but tells the story of someone who made a different decision and lived with the consequences, his friend adds.

Olsson also was one of the first clergy to personally witness the horrors of a concentration camp when the 11th Armored Division captured the Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Lintz, Austria. An estimated 120,000 people died at the camp.

Olsson later volunteered to serve as a chaplain in the Korean War. Records regarding his Bronze Star were destroyed in a 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

(Tomorrow: one chaplain shares excerpts from private emails to his wife back home, providing touching insights into life in a war zone.)

(Editor's note: this online series of articles complements other exclusive material presented in the September issue of The Covenant Companion. To order just the special September issue, call Eric Gonzalez at 773-907-3311. To order a subscription to the magazine, either call Gonzalez or order online at Companion. To receive a free daily Covenant news headline service by email, please visit Newswire.

To read an earlier account in this six-part series, please see:

• Death Lurks Just Moments Away.

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