Following Pearl Harbor, West Salem’s Lester Olson, joined the Army. His brothers Maynard (Army Air Corps), Melvin (Navy), and Everett (Army) also served in WWII, and another brother Willard, served during the Korean conflict.

Lester was trained as a radioman at Camp McCain, located in Grenada, Mississippi. He served in the 94th Division and became a valuable part of Patton’s Third Army, which saw intense fighting, especially during the Battle of the Bulge. His unit was the first to penetrate the Siegfried Line, after which it found itself surrounded behind German Lines and had to fight tenaciously to prevail. He earned four battle stars and a Presidential Unit Citation for his service.

When big bands came to entertain the troops, Olson frequently sang with visiting bands. He was a modest and humble man and rarely talked about those times. But later in life, he told his family that he was once told by an agent, “We’ll see you in Hollywood after the war.”

Lester returned home after the war ended in 1945. He got a job at the La Crosse Post Office and raised a family below the bluff on the South side of La Crosse.