Calvin Glenn Christensen was born on December 26, 1916, in American Falls, Idaho. He was the son of Orion Calvert Christensen and Iva Budge Christensen. He was married to Anita L. Nicolaus. He completed grammar school and later enrolled in vocational training before being inducted into the U.S. Army on October 14, 1942. He was assigned to Company F, 262nd Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division. In December 1944, the 66th Infantry Division arrived in England and was quickly ordered to France as reinforcements during the Battle of the Bulge.

On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1944, more than 2,000 soldiers of the U.S. Army’s 66th Infantry Division were crossing the English Channel aboard the Belgian troopship SS Leopoldville, traveling from Southampton to Cherbourg, France. Only a few miles from port, the ship was torpedoed by the German submarine U-486. The blast and swift flooding plunged the ship into chaos amid freezing darkness, while rescue efforts were hampered by poor communication, a shortage of lifeboats, and confusion within the harbor. As a result of the disaster, 763 American soldiers were killed, and 493 were never recovered. Some perished trapped below deck, others drowned in the icy waters of the Channel, and several courageous officers and enlisted men lost their lives while trying to save their fellow soldiers.

PFC Christensen was among the soldiers lost at sea, listed as Missing in Action, officially declared dead on December 25, 1944, and his remains were never recovered. His name is memorialized in the Tablets of the Missing in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Colleville-sur-Mer, Département du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France. He also has a cenotaph in the Neeley Cemetery, American Falls, Power County, Idaho, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, weremember.abmc.gov, au.forceswarrecords.com