Please click here to view a student eulogy for Harlan Rosvold recorded at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in 2026: https://youtu.be/DYZFeLoZZi0

Biography - Part 1

Early Life 
Harlan Rosvold was born on March 6, 1925, marking a modern milestone for his family: he was the first of the Rosvold children to be born in a hospital,  rather than at home. Born to Emil and Eva (Haugen) Rosvold, he was affectionately known to his family as "Holly."

He was part of a large, bustling household that would eventually include nine children. His siblings included Leona, Eleanor, Mildred, Walford, Marvin, Lois, Lorraine, Carol, and Patricia. However, when Harlan was just four years old, his older brother Walford died of a ruptured appendix. Despite this loss, the siblings remained a tight-knit group, a bond that would later see three of them—Harlan, Lois, and Marvin—serving their country during World War II.

The Great Depression brought a devastating blow to the family in July 1933. Harlan’s mother, Eva, passed away from complications of a gallstone attack at 38 years old. The loss was catastrophic for the family structure; the youngest child, Patricia, was only two months old at the time.

Harlan’s father, Emil, held a job that demanded long hours, making it nearly impossible to manage the household alone. For a time, the family attempted to stay together through the efforts of the older children and a series of hired housekeepers. Eventually, the burden became too great to sustain. The family was forced to separate: the older girls, Leona, Eleanor, and Mildred, moved out as they graduated; the infant Patricia was adopted by a couple from Washington State (reuniting with the family only as an adult); Marvin went to live with family friends; and Lois moved in with friends in Grand Forks.

Following the siblings' separation, Harlan moved to Kenyon, Minnesota, to live with his grandparents. By the time he was 15, he moved in with his aunt and uncle, Edwin and Maria Haugen. There, he lived alongside his cousins Conrad, Darlene, and Ronald Haugen, finding a measure of stability during his teenage years.

Harlan attended Kenyon High School, where getting an education required significant determination. In an era before school buses, transportation relied on neighborly carpools. The harsh Minnesota winters made this commute difficult, so Harlan and his cousins would stay in town during the winter months to ensure they could attend class.

To pay for his room and board in town, Harlan demonstrated a strong work ethic. Along with two classmates in similar circumstances, he worked at the local bowling alley, setting pins. The manual labor paid modest wages—between 2.5 and 3 cents per line—but it was enough to cover weekly room and board, allowing him to attend classes. Harlan completed his education, graduating from Kenyon High School in 1943, prepared to face the wider world and the ongoing World War. During his high school years, he met Joyce Dalbotten at a 4H meeting. After the war, Joyce would become his wife.

Homefront 
Goodhue County is a rural region in southeastern Minnesota, bordering the Mississippi River about an hour south of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The city of Red Wing serves as the county seat and a major city. 

One of the most prominent businesses in the county to this day is the Red Wing Shoe Company. During World War II, the Red Wing Shoe Company was recognized for its significant contributions, receiving an "E" for Excellence from the War Department. The company’s largest contribution to the war effort was the development and production of "Skytrooper" Jump Boots for American paratroopers. These specialized boots were engineered to withstand the severe shock of parachute landings while maintaining the flexibility required for infantry combat on the ground.

Even today, agriculture remains the economic foundation of the county, but the war precipitated a roughly 16% drop in the rural population, leading to a critical labor shortage. To sustain operations, the region turned to labor from Prisoners of War (POWs). The Faribault Canning Company, located near Kenyon, relied on German POWs to harvest snapping peas in the summer and corn in the fall. Approximately 3,000 prisoners were housed in a camp nearby, paid 67 cents a day, and "farmed out" to local growers between canning seasons. Interestingly, because many residents in the Goodhue and Rice County area had German ancestry, they were often able to communicate easily with the laborers.

Civilians in Goodhue County actively supported the war effort through daily sacrifices and community programs. Residents managed the rationing of essential goods, with coal dealers voluntarily rationing supplies even before official orders were issued. Newspapers like The Zumbrota News educated the public on using ration books, while advertisements promoted war bonds as a way to save for appliances, such as refrigerators, that were unavailable while factories were retooled for war materials. The community also organized metal scrap drives. In response to a survey revealing that student diets were deficient in nutrients needed for growth, there was a strong push for school-provided lunches to ensure the health of youth.

The war caused a shortage of medical personnel, as many were deployed overseas to tend the wounded. To solve this problem, the Cadet Nurse Corps was created. St. John’s Nursing School in Red Wing participated in the Cadet Nurse Corps from 1943 to 1948, offering students free tuition, room, and board in exchange for a promise to serve in military or essential civilian nursing roles. Additionally, sixty-seven women from Goodhue County volunteered for newly organized military units to support the war effort directly.

The impact of Goodhue County residents extended well beyond the fighting, influencing the pursuit of justice in the war’s aftermath. William C. Christianson left his position on the Minnesota Supreme Court to serve as a judge at the Nuremberg Military Tribunal. He presided over the trial of Adolph Hitler’s cabinet, a significant trial, where twenty-one defendants were eventually convicted of planning aggressive war crimes.


Biography - Part 2

Military Experience 
Harlan Rosvold received his draft notice in 1943, just after graduating from high school. He had the option of deferring to work on his uncle’s farm. The prospect of “milking 25 cows by hand” did not appeal to him, and he asked his high school sweetheart, Joyce, to write him a letter to support his enlistment. Rosvold joined the U.S. Marine Corps in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on October 4, 1943. 

Boot camp in San Diego, California, was a shock for the eighteen-year-old; his drill instructor told the recruits they were the "sorriest-looking bunch" and that "no mother in America would claim any of them." Rosvold endured grueling "boon-docking" training, which included marching, bayonet drills, and carrying a fellow Marine 100 yards through wet sand. He also survived "fallout"—midnight runs where recruits had to carry seabags containing all their earthly possessions. While older men in their thirties struggled, Rosvold got into the best shape of his life. 

Following boot camp, Rosvold underwent specialized training at Camp Matthews to master the M-1 rifle and subsequently attended Land Tank School. He was eventually "volunteered" for the Second Amphibious Tank Battalion in Oceanside, California. There, he cross-trained in every position within the tank—driver, loader, and gunner — for both the 75mm Howitzer and .30-caliber machine guns—learning to navigate the unique challenges of driving tanks through water.

Miserable conditions and tragedy marked Rosvold’s journey overseas. Traveling to Maui on USS Comet, he recalled that the ship's drains were non-functional; when seasick Marines tried to wash away their vomit, the water had nowhere to go, flooding the quarters. By May 1944, he was aboard a Landing Ship Tank, LST 390. Here, he witnessed the first true horror of the war when a nearby LST in his group exploded due to a welding accident, killing over 200 men. Later, aboard the Haskell-class Attack Transport 168 heading for the Marshall Islands, Rosvold marveled at the sheer scale of the American military, noting that the convoy stretched "as far as the eye could see."

On June 15, 1944, after a traditional pre-invasion breakfast of steak and eggs at 4:30 a.m., Rosvold’s crew launched their assault on Saipan. The coral reefs prevented a beach landing, forcing the tanks to navigate through heavy fire from hundreds of yards out. Disaster struck when an artillery shell hit Rosvold’s tank as they crossed a small airstrip. The blast killed the radio operator, Alvin Caldwell. In a display of loyalty, Rosvold later returned to the disabled tank to recover Caldwell’s watch and Catholic medal, ensuring they were sent to his parents. 

Forced to bail out, Rosvold made it to the beach and served as a runner for his company commander. He later survived a "banzai" attack, a desperate tactic where Japanese soldiers, often drunk on sake and beer to gain courage, would charge headlong into American lines, screaming praises to the emperor. 

Rosvold completed his time on Saipan, joining various tank crews and filling in gaps as needed. The victory at Saipan was hard-won but strategically vital, bringing B-29 bombers within range of Tokyo.

On July 24, 1944, Rosvold landed on Tinian with the 4th Infantry Division. Unlike Saipan, his tank landed at the same time as the infantry. Immediately upon hitting the shore, Claude Reese Bass, an ammunition passer on Rosvold’s tank, was wounded but survived. The terrain of Tinian was flatter, allowing the tanks to move more effectively with the infantry. This campaign was strategically critical; the Navy’s construction battalions (known as “Seabees”) eventually transformed Tinian’s flat ground into the busiest airfield of the war. The Enola Gay would later launch its atomic mission from this airfield. Rosvold’s unit lost no further men on Tinian and returned to Saipan to prepare for their next major engagement.

In February 1945, Rosvold arrived at Iwo Jima with a specific crew he remembered fondly: Commander Bill Watkins ("one cool dude"), Gunner Carlton "Eel" Evans (deadly with the 75mm), Loader Calvin Orr, and ammunition passers Leroy Baxter and Smith. The invasion conditions were chaotic. Rough seas with two to three-foot waves made radios useless. 

On Iwo Jima, Rosvold drove his tank onto the beach. With his periscopes fogged up, he had to drive "blind" through a 1x6-inch slit in the hatch.  Because of this limited view and the downed radios, Watkins steered Rosvold by tapping him on the shoulder and directing him on which way to go. Upon landing, the black volcanic ash offered zero traction—Rosvold compared it to driving in a "bin of wheat." Their tank did not get over the seawall because of this and became somewhat of a sitting duck. They eventually returned to the sea.

Early in the battle, the tank was hit, and loader Calvin Orr was severely wounded by shrapnel. Orr refused evacuation to stay with his crew, an action for which he later received a Bronze Star. At one point, Rosvold opened his hatch to see better, only to hear a sharp crack as a bullet gouged the metal a foot away, forcing him to slam it shut. Unable to cross the steep seawall initially, the tanks fired at the caves of Mount Suribachi from the water's edge until metal decking could be laid down. Rosvold later had a front-row seat to the flag raising on Mount Suribachi. While he missed the specific moment the flag went up, he knew it happened because every gun in the fleet—machine guns, artillery, and naval cannons—unleashed a massive celebratory barrage of "fireworks."

Rosvold’s unit was the first to land on Iwo Jima and the first to leave, departing on March 16, 1945. The departure was treacherous; the seas were so rough that many tanks sank while trying to load back onto the LSTs. The crew returned to Maui to train for an invasion of mainland Japan that never took place. Rosvold’s unit was awarded two Presidential Unit Citations for their bravery in the Central Pacific and Iwo Jima. He was discharged as a corporal on February 3, 1946, after a final assignment on military police (MP) duty at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Illinois.


Harlan Rosvold's grave and photograph at Fort Snelling National Cemetery, April 8, 2026. Courtesy of Chris Preperato.

Harlan Rosvold in uniform. Courtesy of the Rosvold Family.

Joyce and Harlan Rosvold dancing at the party for their seventieth wedding anniversary, 2017. Courtesy of the Rosvold Family.

Harlan Rosvold in Hawaii, 1945. The men of the Second Amphibious Tank Battalion were preparing for the invasion of Japan that never occurred in 1945. Courtesy of the Rosvold Family.

A young man in a Marine Corps uniform in Hawaii.

Rosvold (third from the left) and his tank crew are taking a breather after Iwo Jima in Maui, Hawaii, 1945. Courtesy of the Rosvold Family.

A group of five Marines crowded around a bench in Maui.

Harlan and Joyce are pictured with their children at the party for their seventieth wedding anniversary, 2017. Courtesy of the Rosvold Family.

A picture of the Rosvold family at their parents' anniversary party.

Rosvold (back row, second from the right) was an active member of the Kenyon, Minnesota, VFW Post 141. Courtesy of the Goodhue County Historical Society.

A group of six men and three women active in the local VFW chapter.

Harlan and Joyce Rosvold on their wedding day, December 1947. Courtesy of the Rosvold Family.

During their downtime, the men of the Second Amphibious Armored Division would box. Rosvold can be seen on the right, and he admitted he was not the best boxer. Courtesy of the Rosvold Family.

Rosvold (back row, far right) and his tank crew hamming it up after the invasion of Iwo Jima, June 1945. Courtesy of the Rosvold Family.

A group of six Marines goofing around for the camera on top of a tank.

Harlan Rosvold (back row, far right) and crew posing for a picture after the successful invasion of Saipan, June 1944. Courtesy of the Rosvold Family.

A group of Marines in the Pacific theater.

While Harlan was in fifth grade, his class put on a play for the community. Harlan is fifth from the left in the back row, 1935. Courtesy of the Rosvold Family.

A group of young children in costume for a play.

HARLAN THEODORE ROSVOLD

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