T/5 Henry Frandsen Sorensen
(1905 - 1962)
Profile
T/5 Henry F. Sorensen was one of the Danish nationals serving with the USAAF during the war. Born in Denmark in 1904, he had arrived in the USA in 1924. At en listment in 1942, he had not yet become a citizen of his new country.
Henry Frandsen Sorensen—originally Henrik Frandsen Sørensen—was born in Birkekær in the parish of Sønder Bork on 5 March 1905, to butcher Christen Sørensen and Marie Kristine Sørensen (née Christensen).[1]
Sorensen emigrated to the United States in 1924, arriving in New York in company with his sister onboard the SS Oscar II on 19 March 1924. He intended to stay in the country forever.[2] He settled in Rapid City, South Dakota, initially, but moved to Anaconda in Deer Lodge, Montana, in 1930. Sorensen was employed in the construction department of the Anaconda Reduction Works.[3] He declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States on 25 June 1940.[4]
Sorensen enlisted as a private (39604373) in the US Army in Missoula, Montana, on 20 March 1942. He was not yet a citizen at the time.[5] Very little information is available on his service other than that he served with the air force. On 23 July 1943, he was part of a group of enlisted men transferred to 477th Quarter Master Truck Regiment in Seattle Washington. He had been promoted to Technician Grade Five at that point.[6] Three weeks later, he was posted to 476th Base HQ and Air Base Squadron in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[7] He was honorably discharged on 9 June 1945 at Fort Douglas in Utah.[8]
After the war, he returned to Anaconda. He was employed as a smelterman by the Anaconda Cupper Mining Company (ACMCo).[9] He married Edith M. Calle (née Burch) on 14 November 1951.[10] Tragically, however, she died suddenly from a cerebral embolism only three months later.[11] Sorensen died on 23 September 1962.[12]
Endnotes
[1] DNA: Parish register, Sønder Bork sogn.
[2] Ancestry: New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957.
[3] Henry Sorensen Taken by Death, The Montana Standard, 25 Sep 1962, p. 5.
[4] Ancestry: Montana, U.S., County Naturalization Records, 1867-1970.
[5] Ancestry: U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946.
[6] NARA: RG 64, Morning Reports, Morning Reports for January 1940 01 - July 1943: Roll 2314 (1 of 5) (NAID: 438893574).
[7] NARA: RG 64, Morning Reports, Morning Reports for August 1943: Roll 299 (4 of 5) (NAID: 444311842).
[8] Henry Sorensen Taken by Death, The Montana Standard, 25 Sep 1962, p. 5.
[9] Ancestry: U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995.
[10] Ancestry: Montana, Marriage Records, 1943-1986.
[11] Ancestry: Montana, U.S., State Deaths, 1907-2018.
[12] Ancestry: Montana, State Deaths, 1907-2016.