 |
| Seaman Apprentice Omar Kolstad was on the USS Vincennes during the Battle of Savo Island. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/103322495/omar-julian-kolstad http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/first-battle-of-savo-island-the-u-s-navys-worst-defeat/ https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/CA/CA-44_Vincennes.html |
Omar Julian Kolstad never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom. His father Simon did live to 100 years old.
He was born on July 26, 1918 in Minnesota. His parents Simon and Eunice were also both born in Minnesota. All of his grandparents were from Norway. His father worked as a farmer and later as a blacksmith with Omar serving as his assistant. Omar had an older sister, three younger sisters and five younger brothers. By 1940 Omar had completed eight years of schooling. He was working a government job in Camp Lake, Minnesota.
He enlisted in the navy on April 1, 1942. By June he was serving on the heavy cruiser USS Vincennes. as a Seaman Apprentice. Prior to Kolstad joining the crew, Vincennes was part of the Doolittle Raid and the Battle of Midway.
Moved the South Pacific, Vincennes screened the initial Marine landing on Guadalcanal on August 7, 1942. Two days later it took part in the Battle of Savo Island. It took up position to intercept any Japanese ships sent to sink the transports still unloading supplies on Guadalcanal. That night the Japanese got the jump on the Americans and within a minute Vincennes had taken a number of major hits. The pounding didn't let up (it was hit by at least 85 shells). Within five minutes a torpedo left the ship dead in the water. The captain had no choice but to order the ship abandoned. The sinking took 322 men down with the ship including Seaman Kolstad. He was listed as missing in action for one year before his death was recognized.
His cenotaph grave is at Rolling Forks Lutheran Cemetery in Pope County, Minnesota.
Last year on this date I profiled A-36 pilot Everett Fager. You can read about Everett here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
No comments:
Post a Comment