Rolf Osmund Skrien
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Coast Guard
Photo 1: Rolf Skrien in uniform.
Photo 2: Mr. Skrien aboard the USS Pasco, with telegram dated February 26, 1945.
Photo 3: Mr. Skrien aboard troll frigate in the north Pacific.
Rolf Osmund Skrien served in World War II in the North Pacific. He joined the Coast Guard on November 9, 1942, and was sent to Charleston Naval Base in South Carolina for basic training. After boot camp, he was assigned to a topnotch military traveling drill team that performed a thirty-two-count, thirty-man precision drill at colleges, high schools, and venues in the eastern United States.
Mr. Skrien attended Aerography School, where he received weatherman training. He participated in security training at Fort McHenry (Coast Guard) Training Station in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1943, Mr. Skrien was transferred to San Francisco. He was assigned to the USS Pasco (PF-6), which was launched the same year.
In 1944, the Pasco was commissioned and sent to the Alaska Territory. Mr. Skrien’s crew patrolled the North Pacific near the Kurile Islands. He headed up a team that manned a 3”/50 (“three-inch-fifty”), an anti-aircraft gun.
An official military telegram sent to the USS Pasco on February 26, 1945, read: “The officers and men of the First Carrier Task Force of the Pacific Fleet have delt [sic] the enemy a crushing blow which will long be remembered. The same courage, skill and teamwork which enabled our carrier pilots to destroy the enemy in bad weather over Tokyo are now being displayed by the forces which are taking Iwo Island only 660 miles from Tokyo. They will also bring success when our troops land in Japan itself covered and supported by the ever increasing power of our air forces and the gunns [sic] of the fleet. To those brave officers and men who have been and are in combat and also to those whose support and assistance in the areas are essential to their success. Well done.”
Near the end of the war, Mr. Skrien went to Cold Bay, Alaska, and from there to Seattle, Washington. He was discharged in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 10, 1946.
His rank was Seaman First Class. Rolf Skrien was born in Ulen, Minnesota, in 1921 to Albert and Charlotte Skrien. He graduated from Morris High School in 1938.
Source: Veterans’ Memorial Hall veteran history form and information provided by family.