Walter W. Steffen
Biography: Walter William Steffen was born on July 21, 1921, in Amiret, Minnesota. He was the son of Albert Steffen and Ella Arionus and attended local schools in Tracy, MN.
Service Time: Walter entered the service in August of 1942, and probably at Fort Snelling, MN. He was initially sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, for his basic training and while there was assigned to Company B of the 609th Tank Destroyer Battalion. In January, 1943, he moved with the unit to Camp Hood, Texas, for 3 months of additional training. From there it was on to Louisiana and Fort Polk for participation in the Louisiana maneuvers. They remained there for two months before moving to Camp Shelby, LA, where they trained for an additional 10 months. Their extended stay provided time to train on the new M-18 Tank Destroyers and a host of other new equipment. On June 28, 1944, they received notice for overseas deployment and moved by rail to Camp Shanks, New York, for final preparations. The 609th shipped out aboard the USS Hermitage on August 11th and arrived in Liverpool, England, on the 24th. It was during his training that Walter qualified as an Expert with the pistol and sub-machine gun. He also qualified as a Marksman with the rifle.
Several weeks later they boarded transports and landed at Utah Beach, France, on September, 20th. They were equipped with M18’s and initially went into Corps Reserve, on the 28th, east of Moutier, France, where crews fired artillery missions through October.
The unit then joined operations against the Siegfried Line in November and early December. Most of Company C moved to Bastogne on December 18th with the 10th Armored Division while the remainder of the battalion fought along the Sauer River. The entire battalion then fought to eliminate the Bulge in January, 1945. They were deployed to the Saar-Moselle triangle in February and participated in the capture of Trier in March. The 609th supported the attack south and east out of the Mannheim bridgehead across the Rhine River in late March and April, reaching southern Bavaria, near Füssen, by the end of the month.
The unit received credit for campaigns in Northern France, Rhineland, the Ardennes, and Central Europe. Walter was awarded the Bronze Star medal along with the WWII Victory, National Defense, Army of Occupation and the Good Conduct medals. He shipped home in August of 1945, and left the service at the rank of Staff Sergeant.
Shortly after returning home, Walter married the former Joyce Lavon Flaten on September 25th, at the Old South Church in Granite Falls. Joyce was born in Granite Falls, MN and was the daughter of Peder Flaten and Olga Aakre. The new couple would make their home in Tracy, MN and Walter worked as a propane delivery driver. Walter went back into the military from July 1951 through August of 1955, serving in Aschaffenburg, Germany. His family was able to be with him during this period. He and the family finished off this service at Fort Riley, Kansas, as a member of Company C of the 68th Armored Regiment. In 1958, he was sent to Korea before being brought back to the states and assigned to Fort Bragg, NC. It was during this last deployment that he was run over by a tank and seriously injured. He was awarded the Korean Defense medal and left the service at the rank of Master Sergeant in 1960.
By 1956, the family had grown by three, welcoming a son Richard, born in 1948, Jack in 1953, and a daughter, Jill, in 1956. Walter worked for Plews Manufacturing and Sales, which produced oil cans for the transportation industry. In his spare time, he enjoyed playing fast pitch softball and basketball. He was also a member of the local V.F.W. and Granite Falls Lutheran Church. Walter passed away on November 24, 1996, an was buried n in the Hillcrest Cemetery in Granite Falls.
I want to thank Walter’s son, Richard, for providing the information and photos of his dad.
