Decorah resident David Amadahl speaks at Lions Club on "The Norway Battalion"

L-R: Dave Amdahl with Decorah Lions Club President Bruce Schuman

Decorah resident David Amadahl says the U.S. Army's World War II campaign included a battalion of soldiers who spoke fluent Norwegian.
 
The 99th Battalion, nicknamed "The Norway Battalion," was made up of 950 soldiers and 50 officers, all of whom were required to speak fluent Norwegian. The unit was the brainchild of General William J. "Wild Bill" Donovan, who thought that such a unit would be a useful asset if the Allies decided to liberate Norway.
 
The 99th was organized at Camp Riley and Fort Snelling in Minnesota and trained in Fort Hale in Colorado. The battalion landed on Omaha Beach on June 22nd, 1944, and was assigned to clear Cherbourg, France. It participated in battles in Holland and Belgium and in the Battle of the Bulge.  After the war ended for them in Regensburg, Germany, they were finally assigned Norway, in Oslo, where they separated Gestapo troops from other German soldiers.
 
The battalion was in combat for 101 days and suffered 54 men killed.  15 were awarded the Silver Star, 20 the Bronze Star, and 305 the Purple Heart.
 
Amdahl recently spoke to the Decorah Lions Club and also told of the Norwegian Special Operations Group, NORSO, which consisted of 74 men from the 99th, who were dropped behind German lines in France to disrupt communications and supplies and of Operation RYPE ("Grouse in Norwegian"), which took place in Norway in 1945.  This was an attempt to destroy railroad lines and prevent German troops evacuating Norway from reinforcing Germany.