On December 19, 1944, not a little proud that his 3rd armored division had been the first Allied armored division in Germany, then stationed in the Stolberg region after the battles of Aachen, General Rose received an urgent order to send the bulk of his troops to the northern front of the Battle of the Bulge, to the Hotton region, where he would set up his HQ.
Rose has no idea of the enemy force deployed in front.
To do this, he sent 3 TASKFORCE to the south:
Kane on the eastern flank.
HOGAN along the Ourthe river.
ORR in the center.
After all his attempts to not only resupply but also simply save Taskforce Hogan, which had been surrounded for 4 days at Marcouray, he ordered the colonel to sabotage all his equipment and reach the American lines 16 km further north, on foot and through enemy lines.
As soon as he learns that Hogan’s first men have managed to reach the lines, he waits passively for Samuel Hogan at Werpin until 2pm.
The general can’t help asking the colonel: “How come you’re only here now, Sam?
and finding no heroic answer, Colonel Hogan replied, “My foot hurts terribly, General.”
Rose smiled and patted him on the shoulder before climbing back into his jeep. As the General was known for always being close to his men, he traveled during those famous 6 days from Hotton to Soy and back….
This desire to be as close as possible to his men was to prove fatal.
On March 30, 1945, a few days after his division had crossed the Rhine, he was killed in action while rescuing a unit that had been left behind near Paderborn. His death was a blow to the morale of all the men in the division.
He was one of the few American generals killed in action during the conflict.
He is the most decorated soldier buried at the Margraten American Cemetery in the Netherlands.