WW2 Fallen - Walter Heltenberg, 12th Armored Division

Staff Sergeant Walter Heltenberg served in the 12th Armored Division in France and Germany/
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8270452/walter-raymond-heltenberg
http://www.12tharmoredmuseum.com/photoalbum_02.asp?c=17th%20Armored%20Infantry%20Battalion

Walter Raymond Heltenberg never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

If you have enjoyed reading the stories of the WWII fallen, Can you help write some stories? It's a big project. The more help, the better.  Announcing "The Stories Behind the Stars", see https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org. This crowd-sourced national project has the goal of compiling stories of all 400,000+ of the US World War II fallen in one free-to-access central database. We are going to need a lot of volunteers. Anyone visiting a war memorial or gravesite will be able to scan the name of the fallen with a smartphone and his story will appear on the phone.

  

Walter was born on August 17, 1920 in Haxtun, Colorado. His parents Frederick and Ella were both born in Nebraska. His father was a farmer. Walter had two older brothers, three older sisters, and two younger sisters. In 1940, Walter had an eighth grade education and was living with his parents in North Otis, Colorado and working on the family farm. 

 

Walter was inducted into the US Army on 7 October 1942. He served in the 17th Armored Infantry Battalion of the 12th Armored Division and rose to the rank of staff sergeant. The 12th AD was activated on 15 September 1942 and trained at Camp Campbell, Kentucky and Camp Barkeley in Abilene, Texas. The division consisted of three battalions each of tanks, armored infantry, and self-propelled artillery. The 17th Armored Infantry battalion was equipped with M2 and M3 halftrack armored personnel carriers.

 

The 12th AD departed the States for the European Theater on 20 September 1944 and arrived at Liverpool, England on 2 October 1944. The division landed at Le Havre, France, on 11 November 1944 and then joined the US Seventh Army at Rouen. Over the next weeks, the division advanced across France towards the German border, liberating the towns of Rohrbach-lès-Bitche and Bettviller by 12 December 1944, and Utweiler, Germany on 21 December 1944. 

 

The new year of 1945 began with a German counteroffensive, known as Operation Nordwind. The German plan was to strike in Alsace and force an American withdrawal, split the Seventh Army, and get behind Patton’s Third Army, disrupting the entire Allied line. Over the month of January the 12th AD played an instrumental role in halting the German offensive. 

 

On 17 March 1945 the division was attached to the Third Army under General George S. Patton, and captured Ludwigshafen on 21 March 1945, Speyer and Germersheim on 24 March 1945, and crossed the Rhine river at Worms on 28 March 1945. SSgt. Heltenberg was killed in action on Easter Sunday 1 April 1945, likely in the battalion’s attack on Konigshofen, Germany. 

 

Walter Raymond Heltenberg is buried in Yuma Cemetery in Yuma, Colorado.

 

Thank you Sgt. Heltenberg for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Walter.

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This profile was written by Bob Fuerst. "I’m a NASA engineer, B-17 Flying Fortress enthusiast, and amateur genealogist so this kind of research is an ideal outlet for me. But more than anything, it’s a way to express my sincere appreciation for The Greatest Generation and the sacrifices that they made, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice. They should never be forgotten and I’m grateful to Don for allowing me to play a small part in honoring them." 

This is one of the final 50 stories (18) to be written as part of this project which ends on September 2, 2020, the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. At that time more than 1,370 men and women will have been profiled. The project will live on in an expanded program to write the stories of all 400,000+ US World War II fallen. Visit www.storiesbehindthestars.org to learn more. We welcome your continued support and interest and encourage you to help write some of these stories.

Last year on this date I profiled PBY Catalina co-pilot George Doll. You can read about George 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.

 

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Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100

 

WW2 Fallen 100 is supported by

The Greatest GENERATIONS Foundation

“Where Every Day is Memorial Day”

http://www.tggf.org