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| Corporal Harold Christensen served in the 3rd Infantry Division in Sicily. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/64274595/harold-albert-christensen |
Harold was born April 9, 1919 in Clifton, Illinois. His parents Ole and Lena were both born in Denmark and immigrated to the US in 1883 and 1902 respectively. His father worked as a laborer at a grain elevator. Harold had three older brothers, four older sisters, and a twin brother named Howard. In 1940, Harold was living at home with his parents in Clifton and working as a driver for a local store.
Harold and his twin brother Howard were both inducted into the US Army in February 1941. Following training, Harold served in the 30th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division, the same unit has his older brother Walter. The 3rd ID first saw action in Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, landing at Fedala on 8 November 1942, and captured half of French Morocco.
On 10 July 1943, the division made another amphibious assault landing on the Italian island of Sicily, where it operated as part of Lieutenant General George S. Patton's Seventh Army. On 22 July 1943 the Sicilian port city of Palermo fell to Patton’s 7th Army. As they marched into Palermo, the infantrymen of the 3rd ID, along with tankers of the 2nd Armored Division and paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division, were surprised to be welcomed by cheering crowds. Women dressed in their finest clothes kissed, hugged and shook the GIs’ hands. Jeeps, trucks, and tanks came under showers of flowers, almonds, apples and lemons.
The division then wheeled right and began to drive east from Palermo to Messina. The coast road to Messina was well defended by the Germans with roadblocks, blown bridges, and mines that made going extremely difficult. Upon reaching the west bank of the Furiano River, the Americans found that the Germans were entrenched on the east bank and opposing their advance with intermittent artillery fire and mortar fire from defiladed positions supported by heavy machine gun and rifle fire. Cpl. Christensen was killed in action 6 August 1943 during the 3rd ID’s advance to Messina. Harold’s older brother Walter died in Italy of a throat infection in November 1943.
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| https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/64273003/walter-christensen |
Harold’s twin brother Howard survived the war and died in 1991.
Thank you Cpl. Christensen for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Harold.
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This profile was written by Bob Fuerst. "I’m a NASA engineer, B-17 Flying Fortress enthusiast, and amateur genealogist so this kind of research is an ideal outlet for me. But more than anything, it’s a way to express my sincere appreciation for The Greatest Generation and the sacrifices that they made, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice. They should never be forgotten and I’m grateful to Don for allowing me to play a small part in honoring them."
Last year on this date I profiled Sgt. Merton Crisman of the 30th Infantry Division. You can read about Merton 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
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