Danish WW2 Pilots

Sgt Svend Aage Rasmussen

(1910 - 1965)

Sgt Svend Aage Rasmussen was was of the Danish nationals who enlisted in the USAAF during the Second World War.

Svend Aage Rasmussen was born on 28 September 1910 in. Sorø, Denmark, to sawmill worker Julius Christian Rasmussen and Ane Marie Cathrine Rasmussen (née Olsen).[1]

Rasmussen emigrated to the United States in 1930, arriving to New York from Copenhagen on 7 April 1930 onboard the SS Hellig Olav. His intended final destination was Ohio. [2] He later moved to Kittitas, Washington, where he was employed as a butcher by the Schaake Packing Co. [3] He declared his intention to become a US citizen on 2 July 1939.[4]

Rasmussen enlisted as a private (39204957) in the US Army in Seattle, Washington, on 22 March 1943. [5] There is very little information on his service. He served as a sergeant in the 1462 AAF Base Unit. [6] This unit was part of the Alaskan Division, Air Transport Command stationed at RCAF Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory of Canada. [7] The unit was part of the lend-lease operation on the Alaska-Siberia Route. [8] Rasmussen was released on 21 October 1945.[9]

He died on 18 July 1965 in Lebanon, Oregon.[10]

Endnotes

[1] Ancestry: Parish register, Lynge Sogn.

[2] Ancestry: New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957.

[3] Ancestry: U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947.

[4] Ancestry: Washington, Naturalizations, 1853-1980.

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

[6] Ancestry: U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current.

[7] 1462 AAFBASE UNIT, USAF Unit Histories, http://usafunithistory.com/PDF/1000/1462%20BASE%20UNIT.pdf (accessed on 16 November 2024).

[8] Air Transport Command, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Transport_Command (accessed on 16 November 2024).

[9] Ancestry: U.S., Veterans' Gravesites, ca.1775-2019.

[10] Ancestry: Oregon, U.S., State Deaths, 1864-1971.