Pvt. Knud Christian Michelsen

Pvt Knud C Michelsen was one of the Danish nationals who enlisted in the US Army. Some sources indicate that he served in an air force unit but it is more likely that he served in the Army Service Forces.

Knud Christian Michelsen was born in Copenhagen on 15 April 1912, to painter Knud Christian Michelsen and Olga Rasmine Amalie Michelsen (née Frederiksen).^[1]

Michaelsen seems to have lived in Los Angeles, california, in the 1930s.^[2] However, there is no exact information about when he left Denmark, originally.

From 1936 to 1939 Michelsen was employed as a waiter onboard the Danish merchant vessel MS Peter Mærsk. He signed on in Shanghai on 28 February 1936 and was on board on several voyages in the Pacific during this period. He signed off in New York on 11 August 1939, ^[3] and was employed as a waiter at the Stockholm Restaurant in Somerville in Somerset, New Jersey.^[4]

Michelsen enlisted as a private (32602335) in the US Army in Newark, New Jersey, on 23 december 1942. He was naturalised as a US citizen on 21 May 1943 in Los Angeles, California. At the time, he was serving as a Private 1st Class in the ‘B’ Company, 30th Ordnance Training Battalion, Camp Santa Anita, Arcadia, California.^[5] This unit was part of the Army Service Corps, which was a part of the US Army in line with the Army Air Forces and Army Ground Foreces.^[6]

Knud Christian Michelsen was hospitalized several times from July 1944 to March 1945. In September 1944 to December 1945 he was admitted to hospital with a fracture cased by a twisted foot. These hospital admissions card available suggest that his military branch was “Air Force, Ground Crew/OtherService, Support Units,” which could suggest that he served in an army air force unit. He was admitted again to the station hospital in Nebraska in January, from February to March 1945. (removal of tonsils).^[7]

Despite the possible association to the air force, Michelsen is associated to non-air force service for the time being.

Endnotes

[1] DNA: Parish register, Sankt Stefans sogn. He was originally baptized Knud Kristian Michelsen.

[2] Ancestry: 1940 United States Federal Census. Information on residence in 1935.

[3] Ancestry: California, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1888-1991.

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

[5] Ancestry: California, Federal Naturalization Records, 1843-1999.

[6] Army Service Forces, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_Service_Forces.

[7] Ancestry: U.S. WWII Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954.