Carroll S. Walsh Jr. (February 18, 1921 – December 17, 2012) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the " United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, ...

jurist. Born in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, Walsh served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He went to

St. Lawrence University St. Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college in the village of Canton in St. Lawrence County, New York. It has roughly 2,400 undergraduate and 100 graduate students. Though St. Lawrence today is non-denominational, it was found ...

and

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

and graduated from

Albany Law School Albany Law School is a private law school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest independent law school in the nation. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and has an affiliation agreement with University at A ...

. He served as a New York state court judge in

Fulton County, New York Fulton County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It forms part of the state's Mohawk Valley region. Its county seat is Johnstown. At the 2020 U.S. census, the county had a population of 53,324. The county is named in honor of Rober ...

and from 1978 to 1990 served on the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

. Walsh and other American soldiers liberated 2,500 Jewish concentration camp prisoners from a Nazi train at the end of World War II. Walsh and his tank crew had been operating in advance of their support column and came over a ridge overlooking the train. Their appearance and presence caused the SS troops guarding the train to retreat and abandon their positions. The name he and his crew had given to their tank was "Ding Dong Daddy". His account of liberating Holocaust victims from a Nazi train led to reunions with the survivors 60 years later.

Notes

1921 births 2012 deaths Lawyers from Detroit People from Fulton County, New York University of Notre Dame alumni St. Lawrence University alumni Albany Law School alumni New York Supreme Court Justices 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers United States Army personnel of World War II {{NewYork-bio-stub