Sven Johnson
PFC Sven Johnson served with Weapons Company, 6th Marines.
He was lost in an accidental drowning at Saipan on 9 August 1944.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 519336
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
September 19, 1924
in Chicago, IL
Parents
Erik Johnson
Kristina (Larsson) Johnson
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
Details unknown
Service Life
Entered Service
December 18, 1942
at Chicago, IL
Home Of Record
6650 North Maplewood Avenue
Chicago, IL
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Kristina Johnson
Military Specialty
Ammunition carrier
Individual Decorations
Bronze Star
Purple Heart
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
On 8 August 1944, the exhausted 6th Marines disembarked at Saipan. They had been in nearly constant combat since 15 June 1944, and had helped conquer both Saipan and neighboring Tinian. Now, they looked forward to a much-needed rest. Among them was nineteen-year-old PFC Sven Johnson, an ammunition carrier with the regimental weapons company. Johnson, who also fought at Tarawa, was still nursing shrapnel wounds in his posterior, suffered on 16 June 1944, but was looking forward to adding a Purple Heart ribbon next to his Bronze Star.
The next day, Johnson, PFC Clyde E. Hughes, and Private Everett A. Ashenfelder, Jr., were standing on a ledge overlooking the sea when a massive ground swell swept all three off their feet. Hughes managed to resurface and was rescued, but Johnson and Ashenfelder were carried off by the wave and drowned. The minesweeper YMS-302 retrieved Ashenfelder’s body four days later, and buried him at sea with military honors. No trace of Johnson was ever found.
Burial Information or Disposition
None; remains presumed lost at sea.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Kristina Johnson
Location Of Loss
Johnson drowned at an unknown location off the coast of Saipan.
