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In Memory of
Donald Van Roosen
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Donald Van Roosen was the first President of Chapter
54, Special Forces Association. He was the father of
three children, two daughters and a son, fellow chapter
member Maj Gen Hugh Van Roosen. |
His service story begins at age 19 when he left Harvard
University during his sophomore year to join the Army in April
1943. World War II was raging in Asia and Europe and the call
to arms was loud and clear.
After basic and advanced training, he, and tens of thousands
more were shipped to England, where preparations were being
made for the impending invasion of Europe. He was assigned to H
Company, 115th Infantry, 29th Division in January 1944.
With five months of pre-combat training, including 50 mile ruck
marches, he was assigned to a heavy weapons platoon as an
assistant gunner. Upon landing on Omaha Beach in Normandy he
carried two boxes of machine gun ammo, a bazooka, two bazooka
rounds, and his personal gear.
His LCI circled the shoreline waiting for the Beachmaster to
order them to begin their assault landing. As they waded ashore
in the 3rd wave of the landing on Red Beach the rising tide was
covered with dead and wounded soldiers from earlier assault
waves. Van Roosen’s wave of troops saw destroyed tanks,
half-tracks, trucks, and all kinds of material from the two
earlier assault waves. The Germans opened up on their landing
craft raking the ship with machine gun fire. He described a
scene not very different than the opening scenes of “Saving
Private Ryan”. The wreckage of 10 or more landing craft,
destroyed before reaching the beach, were blocking their LCI's
route to the beach. His LCI finally found an opening and landed
its troops.
The landing took its toll on the Division, but they were still
prepared for the next phase, the fighting in hedgerow country.
Fighting for the next two months slowed the campaign because
the hedgerows (6-12’ high) were impregnable. Even tanks could
not overcome them and they provided exceptional cover and
concealment for enemy snipers and sharpshooters. During the
first six weeks of combat US forces suffer 10,000 casualties.
Don was promoted to Sargeant in June, just days after landing,
and Staff Sargeant in July. He spent 10 days in August as a
Prisoner of War during the final assault on the City of Brest.
Two days after being freed was offered a Battlefield Commission
in October 1944.
He was awarded numerous awards including the Silver Star,
Bronze Star with V device, four Purple Hearts, Prisoner of War
medal, Presidential Unit Citation, and Combat Infantry Badge.
After his service in World War II he continued his career in
the U.S. Army Reserve for a total of 23 years military service.
He retired as a Lt. Colonel in 1970.
He graduated from Harvard College in 1949 and later worked in manufacturing sales and as an International Marketing consultant. He did over fifty years of volunteer work with the Boy Scouts of America.
#####
History summary of LTC Donald Von Roosen provided by Bill Fanaras, 10 December 2022
D-Day History - Donald Van
Roosen. D-Day veteran tells a haunting story of a
childhood trip to Germany in the late 1930s, wehre a change
encounter with a stranger gave him a firsthand look at the
evils of Hitler's Germany. YouTube, 2014, 3 minutes.
https://youtu.be/VyHHUELdsPQ
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Serving Green Berets 
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