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NAME Henry Battling Nielsen |
NICKNAME — |
SERVICE NUMBER 326640 |
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| UNIT VMD-154 Photographer |
HOME OF RECORD 3329 Michigan Boulevard, Racine, WI |
NEXT OF KIN Father, Mr. Henry Nielsen |
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| DATE OF BIRTH March 9, 1920 |
ENTERED SERVICE October 27, 1941 |
DATE OF LOSS February 7, 1943 |
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| REGION Vanuatu (New Hebrides) |
CAMPAIGN / AREA Espiritu Santo |
CASUALTY TYPE Killed In Action |
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| CIRCUMSTANCES OF LOSS Corporal Henry B. Nielsen was a photographer assigned to VMD-154, a Marine reconnaissance squadron based in the New Hebrides Islands. At just after 0400 hours on 7 February 1943, Nielsen’s plane – PB4Y-1 BuNo 31958 – took off from Espiritu Santo for the first leg of a planned photographic mission to Truk. The aircraft barely cleared the coastline before it plunged into the sea 600 yards offshore of the airstrip, sinking into 94 fathoms of water. The entire crew was killed in the incident. None of their remains could be recovered. |
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| INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS Purple Heart |
LAST KNOWN RANK Corporal |
STATUS OF REMAINS Not recovered |
MEMORIALS Graceland Cemetery, Racine, WI National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific |
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Biography:
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