On the church grounds.

A grayish inscribed marble monument about 5 feet tall and wide.

The memorial remembers the Norwegian and Norwegian-Americans who served in the 99^th Infantry Battalion (Separate) and in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Norwegian Operational Group, who conducted Operation Rype during WW2.

Background on the 99^th Infantry Battalion – the “Viking Battalion”:

The 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate) was activated in August 1942, at Minnesota’s Camp Ripley the moving to Fort Snelling near Minneapolis.  In December the unit moved to Camp Hale, Colorado to train in winter and mountain warfare along with the 10^th Mountain Division.  The Battalion was identified as a “separate” unit since it did not belong to a regiment and was composed of Norwegian citizens and Norwegian Americans designed to form the core of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Norwegian Operational Group for Special Operations in Norway.

In August 1943 they moved to Europe and with no OSS missions scheduled for Norway, the unit was deployed in a conventional role to Europe.  Landing two weeks after D-Day, they fought across Northern Europe to the German border with the 2^nd Armored Division; with the 30th Infantry Division at Aachen and held the line around Malmedy during the Battle of the Bulge. In January 1945, the Battalion joined the veterans of the First Special Service Force, Darby’s Rangers in the new 474th Infantry Regiment. In April the Regiment joined Patton’s third Army for the final drive to Germany and some of the Battalion deployed with the OSS Norwegian Operational Group  Norso I and Norso II as part of Operation Rype to delay German withdrawal from Norway. 

The 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate) earned five battle stars: Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes, and Central Europe and During 101 days in combat, the Battalion suffered the loss of 54 men killed, and 207 wounded.

Background  The OSS Norwegian Operational Group (Norso I & Norso II)  and Operation Rype.

OPERATION RYPE  (Grouse in Norwegian) was the codename of the American operation conducted by the OSS Norwegian Operational Group (Norso I  & Norso II) in March 1945 to carry out sabotage actions behind enemy lines in Norway. From the base at the Gjefsjøen in the Snåsa mountains, the group conducted successful railroad sabotages, with the intention of preventing the withdrawal of German forces from northern Norway. Rype was the only U.S. operation on Norwegian soil during WW2. The unit consisted mainly of Norwegian Americans recruited from the 99th Infantry Battalion and was led by William Colby who later became director of the CIA.

On 9 June the whole group provided a guard of honor for Crown Prince Olaf upon his arrival at Værnes, and then took part in the parade in his honor in Trondheim on 10 June.

For more information visit: http://www.99battalion.org/

And 

http://www.oss-og.org/norway.html

  The text on the monument is written in Norwegian and English.  The English reads: