Bernhard Gabriel Bense
(1914 - 1985)
Profile
Bernhardt Gabriel Bense was one of the more than 30,000 Danish-Americans who were mobilized during the Second World War. He enlisted in the US Army Air Corps in December 1942, but there is very little information in his service.
Bernhardt Gabriel Bense was born in Valby, Denmark, on 26 December 1914, the son Kai Valdemar Bense and Olga Marie Bense (née Larsen).[1]
The family emigrated to the United States in 1923 arriving in New York from Copenhagen on 1 December 1923 onboard the SS Frederik VIII.[2] The family settled in Elizabeth, New Jersey.[3]
Bense was naturalised at some point during the 1930s.[4]
Bense enlisted in the US Army Air Corps on 12 December 1942 at Maxwell Field, Montgomery, Alabama (14094901). According to the enlistment records, he had four years of college training at the time.[5] Bense served in the USAAF until 28 May 1946.
He re-enlisted during the Korean War from 27 April 1951 to 8 September 1952.[6]
Endnotes
[1] DNA: Parish register, Valby Sogn.
[2] Ancestry: New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957.
[3] Ancestry: 1930 United States Federal Census.
[4] Ancestry: 1940 United States Federal Census.
[5] Ancestry: U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946.
[6] U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010.