Henning Linden Henning Linden ( September 3 , 1892 – March 15 , 1984 ) was a United States Army Brigadier General during World War II . He was prominent for his role in the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp while serving as Deputy Commander of the 42nd Infantry Division . Early life . Henning Linden was born as Carl Henning Linden in Mound , Minnesota on September 3 , 1892 , to Swedish immigrant parents . He completed the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at the University of Minnesota and was a Cadet Captain , graduating in 1917 with a degree in civil engineering . He then joined the United States Army as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry , assigned to the 40th Infantry Regiment . World War I to World War II . He commanded a company of the 33rd Infantry Regiment in Panama during World War I , and afterwards served in several command and staff assignments of increasing rank and responsibility . In the early 1920s Linden was Assistant Professor of Military Science for the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at the University of Maryland . In the early 1930s Linden was adjutant of the garrison at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas . In 1936 he graduated from the Command and General Staff College and was reassigned to Fort McClellan , Alabama . In the early 1940s Linden was an Assistant Professor of Military Science for the ROTC program at Boston University . World War II . At the start of World War II he was commander of the 53rd Infantry Regiment in the Aleutian Islands as the United States retook them from Japan . In 1943 he was promoted to Brigadier General as Assistant Division Commander of the 42nd ( Rainbow ) Infantry Division . He commanded its three infantry regiments as " Task Force Linden " which arrived in Marseilles , France that fall , deployed in an attempt to prevent two German armies in Alsace from breaking out , and successfully defended along a 30 - mile front . Two units of " Task Force Linden " , the 222nd Regiment and 1st Battalion 242nd Regiment , were awarded Presidential Unit Citations for extraordinary heroism . At the end of January , 1945 the rest of the division arrived in France , and as part of the Seventh Army the 42nd penetrated German defenses in the Haardt Mountains , crossed the Siegfried Line , bridged the Rhine River , and captured the cities of Wurzburg , Schweinfurt , Fürth and Donauworth . Dachau Liberation . Main Article : Dachau Concentration Camp Liberation On April 29 , 1945 General Linden led a group of reporters including Marguerite Higgins and a 42nd Division detachment as the soldiers liberated the Dachau concentration camp , generating international headlines by freeing more than 30 , 000 Jews and political prisoners . Post - World War II . After World War II he served in occupied Austria and was Chief of the Army ' s Military Arts Department until he retired in 1952 . Awards and Decorations . His awards included : the Silver Star ; two Bronze Stars ; two Legions of Merit ; two Army Commendation Medals ; World War I Victory Medal ; World War II Victory Medal ; European - African - Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 3 bronze stars ; Asiatic - Pacific Campaign Medal ; American Defense Service Medal ; and Army of Occupation Medal . He was also awarded the Croix de Guerre ( France ) and the Order of Leopold II ( Belgium ) . Death and Burial . General Linden died in McLean , Virginia on March 15 , 1984 . He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery , Section 1 , Site 792 - E . Dachau Controversy . For years there has been an ongoing controversy between adherents of Felix L . Sparks and those of Linden over whether the 45th Infantry Division or 42nd Division Troops led by Linden were the actual liberators of Dachau . General Linden ' s son , Colonel ( Retired ) John H . Linden addresses the question in 1997 ' s " Surrender of the The Dachau Concentration Camp , 29 APR 45 : The True Account " , referring to numerous first hand accounts and primary source documents to bolster his father ' s version of events . Looting Controversy . Recent writers have found fault with Linden , Harry J . Collins and other officers who performed occupation duty after World War II , suggesting that they requisitioned luxury items , from the Hungarian Gold Train , for furnishing their offices and quarters — - items allegedly taken from Jewish families by the Nazis during the war . Linden is reported to have received 10 rugs for his quarters on the von Trapp Estate . Many items were not returned to their original owners , who had been killed or displaced during the war , but were later sold at auctions , with the proceeds used to aid war refugees .