Pvt. Marshall Hall Lange

Pvt. Marshal H. Lange was born in Denmark but moved to the United States at an early age with his American born mother. He enlisted in the USAAF in early 1944 and served until May 1946. He was naturalized soon after enlistment.

Marshall Henry Hall Lange was born in Copenhagen on 17 February 1917, to merchant Erik Lange and Marie Louise Lange (née Hall). ^[1] Lange’s parents married in Newburgh in New York in 1916. His mother was born in the United States but had become a Danish citizen by the marriage to his father.^[2]

Lange’s mother visited her parents in the United Statens in 1919, ^[3] and a few years later, his parents seem to have divorced in the early 1920s. His father remained in ^[4] Copenhagen, ^[5] while Lange emigrated to the United States with his mother.

They arrived in New York from Copenhagen onboard the SS Sierra Ventena on 26 December 1923. The passage was paid for by his grandaunt Mrs Sarah Elizabeth Van Pelt. ^[6] They moved into her home in Brooklyn, where Lange’s grandmother, uncle Harold and another two grandaunts lived as well.^[7]

In October 1940, at the time of his draft, he worked at Household Finance Corporation at Communications Building World’s Fair, Flushing, New York.^[8]

Lange enlisted as a private (42076061) in the U.S. Army at Camp Upton Yaphank, New York, on 29 February 1944. ^[9] A few months later, on 26 July 1944, Lange was naturalized as a citizen of the United States. At the time, he was assigned to 2539th AAF Base Unit, Section A, at Foster Field, Texas. ^[10] There is no further information on the nature of his service at this point. Discharged on 3 May 1946.^[11]

Lange returned to New York after the war. In the early 1960s, he settled in Vermont, where he died on 11 July 1998.^[12]

Endnotes

[1] DNA: Parish register, Sundby sogn.

[2] Ancestry: New York, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1847-1849, 1907-1936.

[3] Ancestry: New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957.

[4] Copenhagen Municipal Archive: Politiets registerblade. Station 2. Filmrulle 0009. Registerblad 781 (unikt id. 1557087).

[5] DNA: 1925 Census of Denmark.

[6] Ancestry: New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957.

[7] Ancestry: 1930 Federal Census of the United States.

[8] Ancestry: U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947.

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

[10] Ancestry: Texas, U.S., Naturalization Records, 1852-1991.

[11] Ancestry: U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010.

[12] Ancestry: Vermont, Death Records, 1909-2008.