At daybreak on January 31, the German forces launched an intense assault on the company's position and Olson was severely wounded.
Knowing that his machine gun was Company B's only effective defense, he refused evacuation and continued to fire on the attacking soldiers for an hour and a half until succumbing to his wounds.
On the night of 30 January 1944, after a 16-hour assault on entrenched enemy positions in the course of which over one-third of Company B became casualties, the survivors dug in behind a horseshoe elevation, placing Sgt.
Olson and his crew, with the 1 available machinegun, forward of their lines and in an exposed position to bear the brunt of the expected German counterattack.
Olson manned his gun alone, meeting the full force of an all-out enemy assault by approximately 200 men supported by mortar and machinegun fire which the Germans launched at daybreak on the morning of 31 January.