4/19/2023 4:45:00 PM
Serving Minnesota Veterans and their families. That’s the mission of the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA). We deliver on that promise in many ways.
Sometimes, it means ensuring that Veterans and their dependents receive the healthcare, educational and employment benefits they have earned. Sometimes, it means we find positive housing outcomes for Veterans experiencing homelessness. And sometimes it means we reunite a part of military history with descendants of Veterans who passed decades ago. Such was the story for the family of Sgt. Clifford Peter Olsen, U.S. Air Force, one of nine crewmen lost on a B-14 in 1945 and declared missing in action (MIA).
A box of Sgt. Olsen’s personal items was discovered at a local estate sale by West St. Paul resident Jan Manger. The contents more than surprised her. “When I first saw the materials, I felt a little frightened, knowing that the person these letters, documents and other things related to was long gone, perished in the war, and I just closed the box,” Manger shared. “It took me about one month to look through it again and say, ‘This belongs to someone else’s family and they should rightfully have it back.’”
Manger, who comes from a long line of Veterans, said she always wondered how people could find things like this at sales or in abandoned units and not make some sort of effort to return the items. “I wanted to do the right thing for someone who fought for the freedom of our country.” Manger went online and discovered that LinkVet (1-888-LinkVet) was a good starting point for assistance because it links callers to subject matter experts in a variety of Veteran-related areas.
Jana Berube, a LinkVet team member, took Manger’s call. Once she had collected all available information, Berube promised Manger that she would do her best to conduct some research about this Veteran’s family and circle back with what she found. “I start every day with the hope that I can make a person’s day better than it was yesterday,” said Berube. “That was my commitment to this individual and to the potential family who might get this part of their history returned.” After some initial website and social media research that didn’t yield the necessary information, Berube realized she needed to reach out to other MDVA colleagues for assistance.
Enter Robert Gross, Administrator, Preston Veterans Cemetery, and a member of the MDVA Memorial Affairs team who had previous experience researching situations like this one. Gross took the reins to help the box ultimately find its way to Sgt. Olsen’s descendants.
He was dispatched to Manger’s West St. Paul home to pick up the box so he could review its contents. Those contents provided Gross with clues to help him fact find in a number of ways. He also did a deeper dive of Sgt. Olsen’s obituary, which revealed some new paths to investigate.
“I was ultimately able to connect with the sergeant’s great-granddaughter who lives on the west coast and learned that she and her sister were already searching into their genealogy,” Gross noted. “What a convenient coincidence.”
Gross was able to gather additional information about Sgt. Olsen by placing cross country phone calls to various resources, checking different registries, working with the National Cemetery Association, reaching out to CVSOs (County Veterans Service Officers) and verifying as many details as possible about the final WWII mission.
“History needs to live,” said Gross. “I was so pleased to be able to provide a detailed narrative for the family about that last battle. I also ordered an interment flag as a lasting reminder of Sgt. Olsen’s ultimate sacrifice.”
Some of the box’s materials included:
Brad Lindsay, MDVA Interim Commissioner, shared that finding Veterans’ items in unexpected places is not as uncommon as one might think. “Individuals with no connection to their family history, especially those more than one generation removed, may sell these items—be they uniforms, old documents or medals. Occasionally, they’re stolen, like one Purple Heart I remember from years ago that had belonged to a 17-year-old who was killed in action in Korea.” In this most recent situation, there is no confirmation for how these items from Sgt. Olsen ended up in the West St. Paul estate sale.
David Swantek, MDVA Deputy Director of Memorial Affairs, expressed his support for Gross’ extra efforts related to expanded research and family outreach to deliver as full a story as possible. “What an example of going above and beyond,” Swantek said. That’s exactly the day-to-day mission we have at MDVA!” And Director of Veterans Programs and Memorial Affairs Andrew Garvais noted that Gross’ dedication to resolving this issue and the level to which he cares for Veterans is a benchmark for all MDVA employees.
The LinkVet team member who began this conversation last December, Jana Berube, expressed gratitude for the positive outcome and the solid teamwork that made this outcome possible. “It’s the best (slightly delayed) holiday gift I received.”
Perhaps Gross best summarized the meaning of MDVA’s ongoing commitment to serve those who have served when he said, “Veterans never truly die if they’re remembered by a grateful nation.” MDVA is grateful we were able to bring a piece of history back home where it belongs.
