Sgt Wagn Eskelund
(1915 - 1988)
Profile
Sgt Wagn Eskelund served in the Fifth Air Force in the Pacific for two years. He was born in Copenhagen in 1915 but grew up in Virginia, USA. He enlisted in the USAAF in April 1943.
Wagn Eskelund was born on 16 April 1915 in Frederiksberg, to Ludvig Christian Casper Eskelund and Maren Kristine ‘Kiss’ Eskelund (née Holm).[1] The family lived in Copenhagen for the first few years of his life. In 1919, his father established a barber shop on Elsinore.[2] Either this business venture did not turn out as planned or the plan was to look for new opportunities in the United States. In any event, Eskelund’s father travelled to the United States working as a dishwasher onboard SS Frederik VIII arriving in New York on 5 July 1921. He deserted the vessel when on arrival.[3] Eskelund’s mother and brother Mogens returned to Copenhagen.[4]
Emigrating to the United States
Sixteen months later, on 6 November 1922, Eskelund arrived in New York onboard the SS United Statens with his mother and brother with the intention of joining the father and remain in the United States forever.[5] The family settled in Roanoke, Virginia, where Eskelund’s father established a beauty shop.[6]
Eskelund and his brother was educated at the Fishbourne Military School.[7] Fishbourne is a private, military boarding school for boys still in operation in Waynesboro, Virginia, United States.[8] Eskelund later attended the Virginia Polytechnic Institute along with other cadets from Roanoke.[9] He was part of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets.[10]
He was employed by the Appalachian Power Co. in Roanoke in late 1941.[11]
Australia, New Guinea, Manila, and Japan
Eskelund enlisted in the United States Army as a private (39569321) in Los Angeles, California, on 3 April 1943. He was at not yet a citizen at the time.[12] He was naturalised as a United States citizen on 1 May 1944. According to the documents he was, at that point, serving as Corporal in Headquarters Fifth Air Force, Advanced Echelon, APO 713.[13] He was later promoted to sergeant and served for two years in the Pacific Theatre, in Australia, New Guinea, Manila, and Tokyo.[14]
This information at least suggest his whereabouts at the time. APO 713—or Army Post Office 713—was located at Base E., Nadzab, New Guinea, where the HQ of Fifth Air Force moved to from Brisbane, Australia on 15 June 1944. The following year, the HQ moved to Schouten Islands in Indonesia, to Leyte, Mindoro and Luzon in the Phillippines, and then to Okinawa, Irumagawa, and Tokyo in Japan.[15] There is no documentation that Eskelund followed the unit on this route, but the general description of his service in the Pacific fits the general path.
After the War
Eskelund returned to Roanoke on 2 December 1945 after two yeas in the Pacific. The sources suggest that he was educated at the University of Southern California after the war.[16]
He married in Las Vegas, Nevada, on 24 November 1949. Later in life, he moved to the United Kingdom, where he died on 10 August 1988.[17]
Endnotes
[1] DNA: Parish register, Frederiksberg sogn.
[2] Bill-Jessen, T. (2005). Borgerskaber i Helsingør 1612-1933. Hensingørs håndværksmestre, købmænd og andre erhvervsdrivende gennem godt 300 år, p. 53.
[3] New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957.
[4] Copenhagen Municipal Archive: Politiets registerblade. Station 5. Filmrulle 0009. Registerblad 4302 (unikt id. 2024891).
[5] Ancestry: New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957.
[6] Ancestry: U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995.
[7] Former Roanoker Wagn Eskelund Weds in Nevada, The World-News, 10 December 1949, p. 3.
[8] Fishbourne Military School, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishburne_Military_School (accessed on 4 November 2024).
[9] Arrival Of College Students Marks Opening Of Lively Period, The World-News, 17 December 1935, p. 13.
[10] Virginia Tech, The Bugle, 1936, p. 228.
[11] Ancestry: U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947.
[12] Ancestry: U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946.
[13] Ancestry: California, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1888-1991.
[14] Personal Mention, The Roanoke Times, 6 December 1945, p. 8.
[15] Maurer, M. (1983). Air Force combat units of World War II, p. 461.
[16] Former Roanoker Wagn Eskelund Weds in Nevada, The World-News, 10 December 1949, p. 3.
[17] Obituaries, The Daily Telegraph, 12 August 1988, p. 16.