Pvt. Paul Arne Thogersen
(1918 - 2000)
Profile
Pfc. Paul A. Thogersen enlisted in the USAAF during the Second World War. He served in a Signal Aircraft Warning unit and overseas in the North African and European campaigns.
Paul Arne Thogersen was born on 21 March 1918 in Aalborg, to sandwich maiden Lilly Christensen and seaman Peter Jessen Thøgersen. [1] He was baptized Poul Arne Thøgersen originally.Thogersen’s biological parents were not married. Thogersen’s mother married in 1924 in Copenhagen and established a family with her husband and over time three daughters. [2] He was raised by his grandparents.[3]
Thogersen emigrated to the United States in 1939, arriving in San Pedro, California, from Gothenburg onboard the SS Valparaiso. His final destination was his uncle Robert Christensen, who lived in Los Angeles at the time. The uncle had lived in the United States since 1915, [4] had served in the U.S. Army during the First World War, [5] and been a citizen since 1924.[6]
Thogersen settled in Los Angeles and was employed by the Repcal Brass Manufacturing Company.[7]
Thogersen enlisted as a private (39167941) in Los Angeles on 29 October 1941. [8] There is little information on the nature of his service.
In September 1942, when he was naturalized as a United States citizen, he served as Private 1st Class in 681st Signal Aircraft Warning Bn. (Reporting Frontier Special) at Drew Field in Tampa, Florida.[9]
He served for three years in the North African and European campaigns.[10]
Thogersen returned to California after the war. He married Gloria Eline Bjornsen in 1946. [11] He died in 10 January 2000 in Whittier, California.[12]
Endnotes
[1] DNA: Parish register, Aalborg Vor Frue sogn.
[2] DNA: 1925 Census of Denmark.
[3] DNA: 1921, 1925 and 1930 Census of Denmark.
[4] Ancestry: 1930 United States Federal Census.
[5] Ancestry: New York, Abstracts of World War I Military Service, 1917-1919
[6] Ancestry: U.S. Naturalization Record Indexes, 1791-1992 (Indexed in World Archives Project).
[7] Ancestry: U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947.
[8] Ancestry: U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946.
[9] Ancestry: Florida, Naturalization Records, 1847-1995.
[10] Thogersen-Bjornsen, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 6 January 1947.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Ancestry: U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007.