Roy E. Carlson
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Army
Mr. Carlson served in World War II in the European Theater.
He served with the U.S. Army from January 13, 1943, until March 26, 1946. He was assigned to the 66th Infantry. He was decorated 2 overseas service bars.
His rank was Private 1st Class.
Mr. Carlson was born in 1921 to Gabriel and Hannah Carlson in Escanaba, Michigan.
Source: Veterans’ Memorial Hall History Form; “Crew Deserted Sinking Troopship, Says Soldier” undated newspaper article, Escanaba, Michigan, newspaper [?]
“A charge by Pvt. Rolland G. Carichner of Chicago, published recently in Chicago, that cowardly behavior by the crew of the Belgian liner Leopoldville contributed to the loss of nearly 800 American lives when the ship was sunk by a German submarine in the English Channel Christmas Eve, 1944, was confirmed in Escanaba yesterday by George Embs, 616 South Eighth Street, who was one of the survivors of the sinking.
“There were two Escanabans aboard the Leopoldville and both were saved by making a hazardous leap from the stricken troop ship to the British destroyer HMS Brilliant. The other local survivor was Pfc. Roy Carlson, son of Mrs. Hannah Carlson, 1103 Stephenson avenue. Carlson recently spent a 15-day furlough in Harnosand, Sweden, with his grandmother and was there on the occasion of her 93rd birthday anniversary on Feb. 15. George Embs, a sergeant major in the 66th Division, has been discharged from service is now at his home here.
“Crew Flees Ship
“Substantiating the story of Pvt. Garichner (sic), which was published in the Chicago Tribune, Embs said yesterday that the members of the crew of the Leopoldville, mostly natives of the Belgian Congo, dashed for the lifeboats and fled in them immediately after the ship was struck by the torpedo. Moreover, the ship’s captain also apparently disappeared because no orders to abandon ship were given to the soldiers for at least an hour and a half. The Leopoldville was struck at 6:30 p.m. and sank in two hours.
“There was only one order issued during all the time I was aboard the Leopoldville after the ship was struck by the torpedo,” Embs said yesterday. “That order merely was a warning to the men aboard not to smoke.”
“Embs said he saw the torpedo strike the ship.
“The Escanaba soldier added his tribute to that of Pvt. Carichner for the courageous action of the American soldiers and particularly a battalion commander, Lt. Col. Rumberg, who lost his life in the sinking ship.
“Embs declared that the seamanship of the British destroyer in coming abreast of the stricken troop ship was remarkable in the heavy sea. Embs and Carlson both escaped from the doomed liner by jumping overboard to the British destroyer.
“The casualty toll in the sinking was 784 enlisted men and 14 officers dead and missing. A number of other ships were also torpedoed in that area that evening, Embs said.
“The troopship was carrying troops across the channel for the reinforcements during the Nazis’ Ardennes counteroffensive. The Leopoldville was in sight of the port of Cherbourg at the time of the sinking, but was seven miles offshore.”
