Navy Badge
  • Name: Melvin Ronald Martinsen
  • Location of Birth: Cohasset, Minnesota
  • Date of Birth: February 21, 1926
  • Date of Death: October 26, 1960
  • Parents: Helmer Martinsen & Louise (Johnson) Martinsen
  • High School and Class: 1944 Greenway High School, Coleraine, Minnesota
  • College:
  • Highest Rank: RM3 (Radioman Petty Officer 3rd Class)
  • Branch: Navy
  • Other Branch:
  • Date Sworn In: February 19, 1944
  • Place Sworn In:
  • Date of Discharge:
  • Place of Discharge:
  • Military Awards:

  • Military Highlights:
    WW II Draft Registration Cards – 10/16/1940 – 03/31/1947
    State: Minnesota
    Name: Melvin Ronald Martinsen
    Race: White
    Age: 20
    Birth Date: February 21, 1926
    Birth Place: Cohasset, Minnesota, USA
    Residence Place: Coleraine, Itasca, Minnesota, USA
    Registration Date: March 6, 1946 (after initial discharge)
    Employer: Unemployed
    Weight: 175
    Height: 5-10
    Complexion: Light
    Eye Color: Blue
    Hair Color: Blonde
    Other Characteristic: Scar on palm of left hand, cut on lower lip
    Next of Kin: Helmer Martinsen, father, Coleraine, Minnesota

    Newspaper article: June 1944 – “Melvin Martinsen left Sunday to report at Great Lakes Naval Training Station, having enlisted in the Navy a short time before he graduated from Greenway high school. He was a member of the class of last Thursday night and is the only son of Mr. and Mrs. Helmer Martinsen.”

    Newspaper article: 1944 – "Melvin Martinsen, son of Mr. and Mrs. Helmer Martinsen, who was to have gone to Great Lakes Naval Station, was ordered instead to Farragut, Idaho."

    Newspaper article: April 1945 – “Melvin Martinsen writes to the Servicemen’s Club from “somewhere in the Pacific” that there are a lot of dead Japs on the island where he is stationed. He also enclosed a paper with Japanese writing on it. Melvin says that he appreciates what the club is doing for the boys, and hopes he will be able to come home soon.”

    Newspaper article: February 1946 – "From Iwo Jima, Melvin Martinsen writes: “Dear Service Club and Members: I received your most welcome Christmas box today. It’s hard to find words to express the “thanks” that I want to give to the Service Club and members of Coleraine. The fellows here in the hut with me think that it is pretty nice of the people back there sending gifts and cards to members of the towns service men. As long as I have been in the service, Coleraine is the only town that sends gifts to its members in the service. I have also been receiving the town paper. The papers are a little old but that’s better than no news at all. Your Christmas gift reached me just in time. If it had been two weeks later, I wouldn’t have received it. The 20th of this month I will be on my way home for a discharge. I’ll be one happy guy when that day comes. Thanks again for the wonderful Christmas gift. It was really swell. It won’t be too long before I shall be able to thank each of you personally.”

  • Wars Involved:
    World War II

  • MIA / POW:

  • Civilian Life:
    Melvin Martinsen drowned while he was on active duty in Guam. He is buried in Fort Snelling National Cemetery, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Section H, Site 3458).

  • Tribal Affiliation(s):

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