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| Lt. Walter Nelson served in the 9th Infantry Division in the Hurtgen Forest. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/179621685/walter-e.-nelson https://9thinfantrydivision.net/battle-of-the-hurtgen-forest/ |
Walter E. Nelson never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on July 24, 1918 in Massachusetts. His father Jacob was born in Sweden and came to America at age four. By 1920 he was a widow with six children. Jacob worked as a coal teamster and later as a brass foundry cutter. Walter had three older sisters and two older brothers. By 1940 Walter had completed two years of college and was living with his father and working as an information clerk. At some point after that he married Madolyn Sherlock.
He joined the army on May 20, 1942 and was commissioned as an officer. His enlistment records show he was 5' 5" tall and weighed 105 lbs. He became a first lieutenant in Company F, 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division.
The 9th ID was one of the first American units to see action. It fought in North Africa and Sicily and arrived in Normandy on D+4. The 9th ID suffered an incredible 23,277 battle casualties including 3,856 killed in action. The 9th ID was in western Germany by October 1944.
Lt. Nelson's unit was struggling through the Hurtgen Forest and faced a German counterattack on October 14, 1944. Lt. Nelson was killed in action that day. The 9th ID would lose more than a third of its men fighting in the Hurtgen Forest.
Lt. Nelson was award the Silver Star. I was not able to find any details about it.
His grave is at Mount Hope Cemetery in Mattapan, Massachusetts. His widow remarried and died in 2002.
Last year on this date I profiled D-Day fallen Howard Littell, 101st Airborne Division. You can read about Howard here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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