PROMOTED
Darwin Arthur Christensen, son of Mr. and Mrs. Grand Goehring, 2121 Fifth avenue, has been promoted to the rank of ship’s cook 2/c according to work received by his parents. He is stationed in the South Pacific area. Christensen received boot training at the naval recruiting station on Farragut, Idaho, and attended the cooks and bakers school there.
Source: The Council Bluffs Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, Iowa, Sunday, December 12, 1943, Page 8 (photo included)
DIES IN ACTION
Ship’s cook second class, Darwin A. Christensen, son of Mr. and Mrs. Grant Goehring, 2121 Fifth avenue, has been killed in action in the south Pacific. Ship’s Cook 2/c Christensen served six months in the maritime service before entering the navy in September, 1942, and has seen 18 months active duty. He attended Thomas Jefferson high school. His wife, Ruby, and daughter, Jackalyn Lee, reside at 3102 Eighth avenue.
Source: The Council Bluffs Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, Iowa, Friday, June 01, 1945, Page 7
Memorial Rites
Memorial rites will be held here Sunday for two Council Bluffs service men killed in action, Pfc. Charles E. Swanson, jr., and Darwin A. Christensen, ship’s cook 2/c.
Source: The Council Bluffs Nonpareil, Council Bluffs, Iowa, Sunday, June 10, 1945, Page 10
Darwin Arthur Christensen was born Feb. 15, 1924 to Henry and Mary Vosler Christensen. He was the step-son of Grant Goehring. He died and his remains were buried at sea May 11, 1945. He has a cenotaph in Walnut Hill Cemetery, Council Bluffs, IA and is memorialized at the Courts of the Missing, Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Petty Officer Christensen served in World War II with the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) which was attacked by Japanese kamikaze planes. He was killed in that attack.
Source: ancestry.com; abmc.gov
