A local veteran will be featured in a program airing Saturday evening on The History Channel.

Glenn Shaunce of Albert Lea is interviewed on &uot;Rolling Thunder,&uot; a two-hour program on World War II’s Third Armored &uot;Spearhead&uot; Division. Shaunce was the Jeep driver for Gen. Maurice Rose, who was shot and killed on March 30, 1945.

The TV crew was in Albert Lea about a year ago, and interviewed Shaunce for the program then. Previously, Shaunce had been in contact with Steven L. Ossad of San Francisco, Calif., who is writing a book about Rose. The book, &uot;Major General Maurice Rose: World War II’s Greatest Forgotten Commander,&uot; will be released next spring.

Shaunce entered the Army in December of 1941. He was in Des Moines when he got the news that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. He was sent to Louisiana the following week and was shipped overseas in the fall of 1943.

In his Army career, Shaunce drove for five different generals, some stateside, after receiving his truck-driving training.

&uot;The guys would say, ‘You got it made,’&uot; Shaunce recalled of his job driving generals. &uot;But I said it didn’t work that way.&uot; Rose especially was known for his leadership at the front lines.

Rose conferred with Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower at the Third Armored Command Post near Stolberg, Germany, in November 1944, less than 60 days after Rose’s troops became the first Allied force to enter Germany.

His troops were also the first to capture a major German city. The division later completed the longest one-day advance by any nation during the war, more than 100 miles through the heart of the Third Reich.

Shaunce remembers Rose as a handsome man &045; &uot;He looked like General Patton&uot; &045; and also a brave one. &uot;Maybe too brave &045; until that last night. Then he wasn’t any braver than the rest of us.&uot;

They were over German lines that Good Friday night when they stalled and found themselves in the middle of German tanks. They hopped out of the Jeep with their arms up and stood in front of it, Shaunce recalled. The general was shot in the head and died, and Shaunce managed to escape, although he suffered a broken leg when knocked between the Jeep and a tank.

He’d blacked out for a time, and was found by some American soldiers, who later said they’d go get help and left him.

&uot;I never did see them again,&uot; Shaunce said. &uot;I don’t know if they were captured or killed or what happened to them.&uot;

So Shaunce crawled and rested, crawled and rested, and finally at daylight on Easter Sunday he was able to flag down some trucks, one of which picked him up and took him to an aid station. From there, he was taken to an airport and flown to England. It was the second time he’d ended up in a hospital during the war, having caught some shrapnel while serving in Africa.

By that time, Shaunce had earned enough points to be sent home. He recovered at a hospital in Walla Walla, Wash., was given a summerlong furlough during which time he came back home, then was discharged that fall back in Washington.

After being discharged, Shaunce tried working at Queen Stoves, but found he missed outdoor work. So he farmed, eventually going into partnership with John Crumb in the Hollandale area.

Shaunce retired at age 62, and moved to Albert Lea some 20 years ago. He’s now 86.

&uot;Rolling Thunder&uot; will air at 7 and 11 p.m. Saturday on The History Channel, Cable Channel 57 in Albert Lea.