Private George W Olson
George William Olsen was born on October 25th, 1893 in Kimball, Minnesota to Gustav Olson and Marie Lindstrom, both immigrants from Sweden. Soon, he became the oldest of their seven children. George attended Jackson County public schools while also working on the family farm. Afterwards, he completed a Business course at Mankato Commercial College. With the involvement of the United States in World War One however, George was handed a draft notice in June 1917. Not wanting to leave his family and a potential career behind, he listed “rheumatism and weak eyes” as a draft exemption but was pressed into service anyway on June 25th, 1918. Undergoing only two months of training, Pvt Olson was rushed overseas with Company L, 342nd Infantry Regiment, 86th Infantry Division on August 24th, 1918. Once they arrived, the entire division was broken up and its members were to be used as replacements for the units taking losses as the front line. After a month in France, Private Olson and fourteen hundred other members of the 86th Division were sent to the 78th Division in the afternoon of October 14th, with Olson joining Company L, 312th Infantry Regiment. It was clear to the veterans of the 78th Infantry Division that these replacements lacked training and experience, so as they waited for further orders, no time was wasted in training the newcomers in attack deployment and other crucial survival information.
Meuse-Argonne The next day, orders were given to relieve the 77th Division in the Grandpre-St Juvin sector to support the massive Meuse Argonne campaign which had already been raging for weeks. The relief occurred during the night of October 15th-16th, but when Pvt Olson’s regiment reached the town of Grandpre where the 77th Division was supposed to be, they found it completely occupied by the Germans. Close quarters, house to house fighting ensued, and by 11 o’clock on October 16th, the 312nd Regiment had captured roughly half the town. There was still much to be done. Pvt Olson and the 312th Infantry made continuous attacks on the Grandpre citadel but were driven back by heavy machine gun fire and grenades. On the 23rd, another attack was launched on both the citadel and Talma hill, which was partially successful. The men advancing towards the citadel became too badly mangled to continue, but Talma Hill was successfully taken after a bitter fight. After holding their position, the 312th Infantry was relieved and took on the roll of division reserve on the 26th. It was during the fighting in Grandpre that Pvt Olson was wounded and evacuated from the front line. When he returned, the 78th Division and the allies had already begun their final offensive against the Germans during the November 1st attack in the Meuse Argonne campaign. Pvt Olson’s 312th Infantry had been called from the division reserve to strengthen the units at the front which had taken severe casualties during the first day of the offensive. From November 2nd to the 5th, the 78th Division rapidly advanced to clear out the Germans, liberating villages and making contact with the French Army until being relieved by the 42nd Division. Six days later, the Armistice was declared on November 11th, 1918, ending the war for Pvt Olson. However, Olson remained in France for many months after, experiencing the war town landscape and participating in the Division inspection and review by General Pershing on March 26th at LesLaumes. On May 24th, 1919, Pvt Olson finally boarded the Radnor for his return to the United States. He was officially discharged from the army on June 2nd, 1919 after being overseas for nearly ten months. Upon returning home to Jackson County, Minnesota, he was elected to the Township Board and School Board of Mountain Lake for eight and seven years, respectively. In 1920, George married Esther Erikson, also a Swedish immigrant, and continued to pursue his role in local government. Finally, George was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives for District 10, Jackson County in 1933-1934 and in 1937-1938. When he was reelected once more in 1957, his term was cut short by his sudden death on February 27th, 1958. He is buried in Riverside Cemetery in Jackson County, Minnesota where he lived for his entire life. |
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