Ove Brandt Nielsen
(1921 - 1971)
Profile
Pfc Ove Brandt Nielsen was one of the more than 30,000 Danish-Americans who were mobilized during the Second World War.
Ove Brandt Nielsen was born on 2 May 1921 in Hornbæk, Denmark. He was the son of Melior Brandt Nielsen and Dagmar Elise Nielsen (née Skjerne).[1] Nielsen’s father owned a small hotel in the early 1920s. He signed on the SS Rolf as a steward in 1928, and the following years he worked on the SS Nordlys.[2] Nielsen’s mother died of cancer in Copenhagen on 8 February 1934.[3]
In 1936, Nielsen and his father emigrated to the United States. They were on-board when Nordlys arrived to New York on 12 July 1936. Nielsen had signed on in Hamburg on 9 March 1936,[4] while his father had been a steward on-board since August 1934.[5]
They moved to San Francisco where, in February 1942, Nielsen worked for the Empire Advertising Company.[6]
Nielsen enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force in San Francisco on 20 October 1942 (39029816).[7] He was naturalised on 9 July 1943. At that point in time he served as a Private First Class in 905th Quartermaster Company Service Aviation, then at Brookley Field, Mobile, Alabama.[8] This unit was part of the supply organisation for the air force. There is no further information on his service. Therefore, it is not clear if Nielsen served overseas or remained in the US during the war.
Endnotes
[1] DNA: Parish register, Hornbæk Sogn.
[2] Ancestry: New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957.
[3] DNA: Parish register, Bispebjerg Sogn.
[4] Ancestry: New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957.
[5] Ancestry: New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957.
[6] Ancestry: U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947.
[7] Ancestry: U.S Army Enlistment Records.
[8] Ancestry: Alabama, Naturalization Records, 1888-1991.