Danish WW2 Pilots

Pvt. Carl Frederick Christensen

(1920 - 1995)

Pfc Carl Frederick Christensen served in the USAAF in North Africa during the Second World War. Born in Denmark in 1920, he emigrated to the United States in 1928.

Carl Frederick Christensen was born on 1 December 1920 in Refshammer, Nykøbing Mors, to Agnes Cecilia Dorthea Andersen. He was baptized Karl Frederik Andersen.[1]

Christensen and his mother emigrated to the United States in 1928, arriving in New York from Copenhagen onboard SS Frederik VIII on 10 September 1928. [2] She married Carl Johan Marinus Christensen in Grundy County, Iowa, on 21 September 1928. They lived in Eagle Township Black Hawk County.[3]

His stepfather was naturalized as a United States citizen on 18 September 1929.[4]

Christensen enlisted as a private (37657511) in the U.S. Army at Camp Dodge in Herrold, Iowa, on 22 January 1943. According to the enlistment record, he was not yet naturalized as citizen. [5] The is little information on his military service.

Christensen served overseas from 29 March 1944 to 1 July 1945. [6] He served in the Army Air Corps in North Africa. [7] He was discharged on 15 December 1945. [8] At this point he had been promoted to Private First Class.[9]

He married in 1947 and settled in Cedar Falls. He was employed as a truck driver by the Rath Packing Company, the Hudson Creamery and the Jesus Co-op Dairy before retiring in 1983. [10] He died on 2 March 1995.[11]

Endnotes

[1] DNA: Parish register, Refshammer sogn.

[2] Ancestry: New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957.

[3] Ancestry: Iowa, U.S., Marriage Records, 1880-1947.

[4] Ancestry: U.S., Naturalization Record Indexes, 1791-1992 (Indexed in World Archives Project).

[5] Ancestry: U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946.

[6] Ancestry: Iowa, World War II Bonus Case Files, 1947-1954.

[7] Metro Deaths, The Courier, 5 March 1995, p. 14.

[8] Ancestry: Iowa, World War II Bonus Case Files, 1947-1954.

[9] Ancestry: Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current.

[10] Metro Deaths, The Courier, 5 March 1995, p. 14.

[11] Ancestry: U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007.