Channel 12 News clip about Walter Lindahl and Victory Memorial Drive

Here is a news clip about Walter Lindahl and our family's quest to find out the facts of his life and death.  The  report was broadcast in July 2011 after the re-dedication of Victory Memorial Drive where Walter is memorialized along with 567 other Hennepin County soldiers who died in World War I.

Click on the link below to see the Channel 12 News report

Channel 12 News report on Walter Lindahl

Inspirations for the Documentary

I have read many books during the past year that have provided inspiration, insights and critical information about World War I and about the experiences of Walter Lindahl and the 27th and 30th Divisions during the war.  Here is a list of some of the best ones:



 "Birdsong" is a beautifully-written fictional account of the Great War.  The author captures the horror, carnage, futility and hopelessness of trench warfare.



"Borrowed Soldiers" by Mitchell Yockelson is extremely well-written, well-researched history of the 27th and 30th Divisions of the American Army which were assigned to the British Expeditionary Force during the last six months of the Great War.  Walter Lindahl was part of the 30th Division and Mr. Yockelson's book has been an excellent resource for me in researching Walter's experiences during his time in France.  I hope to get to Washington, D.C. this fall to meet with Mr. Yockelson and interview him for the documentary.  I also hope to return to northern France and Belgium during the next year, along with Mr. Yockelson, so that he can describe on camera details of the battles which took place nearly 95 years ago.





"The Last Full Measure" describes the weapons, their ferocity and  the wounds they inflict on soldiers during war. The author also examines how soldiers prepare for the possibility of their death during battle. What did soldiers in World War I think about during the night before they were to "go over the top," waves of soldiers rushing en masse at heavily-fortified enemy lines?  Two of the letters from Walter's buddies describe Walter's death on the battlefield.  This book helped me to understand how he might have prepared himself and accepted his death that day of October 7, 1918. I would like to interview the author, Michael Stephenson, some time during the next year.

Mark and I bought "The Thirtieth Division in the World War".  It is a contemporary account of the Division's actions during the War and full of essential information.

Finally, the "American Armies and Battlefields in Europe" edition from 1938 (written and edited by General Dwight D. Eisenhower) has been invaluable for the information and the military maps of the battlefields and memorials in Belgium and northern France.

Meeting with Pauline DeCook

Pauline DeCook, daughter of Naldo Steenhoek

Last Friday, July 13, 2012, my brother, Mark Thompson, and I drove down to Byron, Minnesota (8 miles from Rochester).  We were meeting Pauline DeCook, daughter of Naldo Steenhoek.

Naldo was one of Walter's buddies in Company I.  We think he was part of Walter's machine gun crew.  Two or three soldiers carried pieces of the Lewis machine gun and advanced over the top with the purpose of setting it up at some point during the attack on the Germans.

Walter was shot that morning of October 7, 1918 and took shelter in a shallow bomb crater.  Naldo was with Walter as he lay dying that day.  We think they were both tied down by the withering German machine gun fire, coming from their left flank and from in front of them.  No medics could get to Walter; and he died that evening. In 1921, Martin Schadeck, Walter's closest buddy during the war, wrote to Naldo to ask the circumstances in which Walter had died.  Naldo wrote the following letter back to Martin.

First page of original letter from 1921. Below is a transcription of the entire letter.

Private Naldo Steenhoek, Company I, 117th Regiment 30th Division

Naldo's daughter, Pauline, was so gracious to us when we stopped by to spend an afternoon talking about her father and our great-uncle during the Great War. Thanks so much to Pauline.  We intend to stay in touch with her and other members of her family to let them know developments on our film project.