Donald G. Jensen
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Navy
Donald G. Jensen entered the Regular Navy May 5, 1940.
He served as a Watertender 1st Class. He attended training at Great Lakes NTC, Illinois.
"Left Great Lakes for the commissioning of the new destroyer USS Charles F. Hughes (DD428) on September 5, 1940. I attended the ship trials in the Puget Sound and then to Norfolk, Virginia and the Atlantic fleet to watch-guard the French fleet in Martinique V.I.....in July 1941, took the first of the U.S. escort convoys to Iceland....later on we escorted tankers....to Ireland and England....Rescued people from stranded and sunken ships. Made a number of these trips.
"Served on landings at Casablanca and Algiers. Went to landings in Polermo, Sicily. Served on landings at the Anzio, Netuno, beachheads. Served in the Southern France invasion at Toulon. Came back to the States in 1945 to study at the Naval Boiler and Turbine lab in Philadelphia. Went to Portland, Oregon, to commission the USS Kula Gulf (CVE 108) and on to the Pacific with a night fighter squadron to see the end of the Okinawa fight and the end of World War II. Took troops home from the Philippine Islands, Saipan, and other islands to San Diego."
He completed his enlistment on May 5, 1946 and enlisted in the Naval Reserve that summer.
He also served during the Korean conflict in 1950.
Source: Hometown Heroes: The St. Louis County World War II Project. 128.
