North High School Wall of Honor
Verlin Dennis Christensen
Class of January, 1948
Verlin Dennis Christensen
Research done by Claradell Shedd, class of 1953.
Verlin Dennis Christensen
Verlin graduated from North High in January, 1948. At the time, his next of kin was Mr. W. Christensen, 3601 Bowdoin Street, Des Moines, IA. His service number is RA 17248912.
Verlin Dennis Christensen
Year   Rank   Status
January, 1948 x Graduated x Graduated from North High, Des Moines, IA
Jan-July, 1948 x Employed x At Davidson's on Walnut in downtown Des Moines
July 29, 1948 x US Army/
Private E-1
x Enlisted in Army when 18 years old (July 29, 1948). Boot camp at Fort Riley, KS. *Assigned to 10th Infantry Division.
1948 x US Army x Leadership Training for six weeks
1948 x US Army x Okinawa for 14 months
date x US Army x Korea for 8 months with Army Engineering Unit building and repairing bridges
August 16, 1951 x US Army/PFC x Discharged at Fort Riley, KS.
1951 x Employment x Worked at his parents' grocery store, Christy's Food Market, at 6th and Madison, Des Moines, IA. The market closed in 1957.
Sept 28, 1953 x Family x Married Louise Young (class of 1948) at Highland Park Lutheran Church, Des Moines, IA
1957-1959 x Employment x Flynn Dairy, Des Moines, IA
1959-1961 x Employment x Firestone Tire Company, Des Moines, IA
May,1961-
May,1988
x Employment x Post Office. Worked there for 27 years.
Summary x Employment x US Army - 3 years; Federal Service - 27 years.
aft 1988 x Civilian x After retirement, Verlin and Louise traveled to Europe (Denmark and Sweden to visit family) and Canada.
*10th Infantry Division
The 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) is a light infantry division in the United States Army based at Fort Drum, New York. The division is a subordinate unit of the XVIII Airborne Corps. Originally constituted as a unique mountain warfare unit, the division was the only unit of its size in the U.S. Army to specialize in fighting in mountainous and arctic conditions, thus earning the division the "MOUNTAIN" tab. Today, the division retains its "mountain" designation for historical purposes and is organized as a light infantry division.

Originally activated as the 10th Light Division (Alpine) in 1943, the division was redesignated the 10th Mountain Division in 1944 and fought in the mountains of Italy in some of the roughest terrain in the country. Following the war the division was deactivated, only to be reactivated and redesignated as the 10th Infantry Division in 1948.

In June 1948, the division was rebuilt and activated at Fort Riley, Kansas to serve as a training division. Without its "Mountain" tab, the division served as the 10th Infantry Division for the next ten years. The division was charged with processing and training replacements in large numbers. This mission was expanded with the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950. By 1953, the division had trained 123,000 new Army recruits at Fort Riley
Fort Riley, KS Left:
Fort Riley, KS
Flynn Dairy Co.
Right:
Firestone Tire Company
Firestone Tire Company
Flynn Dairy Company

Verlin Dennis Christensen
10th Infantry Division
US Army
Infantry Insignia
US Army Seal



10th Infantry Division




US Army Engineers

Verlin Dennis Christensen

Army of Occupation Medal/Japan      Korean Service Medal

Army of Occupation Medal; Korean Service Medal
References
The comprehensive list of names from North High's 1893-2018 graduation classes are from Claradell Shedd's North Des Moines High School website. The names of all North High School graduates can be found online at http://www.ndmhs.com/. Verlin Dennis Christensen's 1948 class page can be viewed at
http://www.ndmhs.com/pages/yearclass1948(2008.60).html.
Died 02/03/02
Music: "Wind Beneath My Wings"
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