Pfc. Aage Georg Poulsen

Pfc. Aage G. Poulsen was one of the Danish nationals enlisting in the US Army during the Second World War. There is little information on his service but he returned from United Kingdom after the war with a Military Police Company that had been assigned to the Eighth Air Force.

Aage George Poulsen was born on 14 August 1906 in Copenhagen, Denmark, to coachman Niels Peder Poulsen and Karen Marie Poulsen (née Christiansen).^[1]

Poulsen seems to have lived in the New York from 1928 til 1937 but it is not clear when and how he arrived. He may have been a waiter onboard one of the liners crossing the Atlantic from Denmark to New York. When he later petitioned for citizenship his arrival to the United States for that purpose was in New York onboard SS Scanstates on 29 September 1937.^[3]

Poulsen enlisted as a private (32430437) in the US Army at Fort Jay Governors Island, New York, on 17 August 1942. He was not yet a citizen and working as a waiter at the Iceland Restaurant owned by the Manhattan restaurateur Michael ‘Mike’ Larsen in New York. ^[3] The restaurant continued the success of his Iceland Restaurant at the World Fair.^[4]

He was naturalised as a citizen of the United States in Lake Charles, Louisiana, on 15 April 1943. The record indicates that he was serving as a Private First Class at Lake Charles Army Air Base at the time. ^[5] There is very little information on the nature of his service.

He returned to the United States from Europe onboard the MS Queen Elisabeth on 31 August 1945. At this point he was attached to the 1283th Military Police Company (Aviation), which was part of 3rd Strategic Air Depot, Eight Air Force. The unit had been stationed at USAAF Station 505 in Norfolk prior to departure. ^[6] He was released from service on 4 September 1945.

Poulsen returned to New York after the war. He died on 3 January 1978.^[7]

Endnotes

[1] DNA: Parish register, Simion sogn.

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

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

[4] Iceland Restaurant Opens Doors Tonight, Brooklyn Eagle, 24 January 1941, p. 8.

[5] Ancestry: Louisiana, U.S., Naturalization Records, 1836-2001.

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

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