Three brothers paid the ultimate sacrifice in WWII — and their family’s link to Jefferson Park

by FRANK SUERTH

Across Gunnison Street from the Butera Market, sits a house on Mulligan Avenue with a flagpole and marker on the front lawn.

The marker reads: “Served with Honor, Brave in Spirit, A Defender of Freedom.”

The following is the story how the marker and flagpole got there.

 In 1923, Jans Lauesen and his wife, Nelcina H. Friis, immigrated to the United States from Denmark with their four young sons. They settled in Chicago, where a fifth son, Jens, was born on March 9, 1935. The family made their home in an apartment on North Ravenswood Avenue.

Within just 22 years of arriving in their adopted country, the Lauesens would lose four of their five sons.

The eldest brother, Herman Lauesen, died tragically at a young age. On Oct. 27, 1929, 19-year-old Herman was found dead on Grand Avenue, one mile east of Fox Lake, after being struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver.

The next oldest son, John Lauesen, was a standout athlete at Senn High School. In July 1941, he enlisted in Britain’s Royal Air Force. Two years later, in April 1943, he transferred to the U.S. Army Air Forces. Over the course of more than three years, John flew 115 combat missions.

On Sept. 21, 1944, at the age of 29, he was killed while flying a mission over Germany. Second Lieutenant John F. Lauesen is buried at the Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial in France.

Christian F. Lauesen, the third son, also attended Senn High School before continuing his education at Wright Junior College and later the University of Arizona. Tall and athletic, with blond hair and blue eyes, Christian was an avid sportsman and pitched for his college baseball team.

In June 1942, he joined Marine Fighting Squadron 422 (VMF-422) as a pilot. Shortly before deploying overseas, he married Joy Noreen Herbon on June 2, 1943.

In September 1943, Christian’s squadron boarded the USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) for operations at Midway Island. The squadron consisted of 24 aircraft and flew well-used F4U-1A Corsairs based at Eastern Island.

Christian flew as Red 3 in Red Flight, under the command of Captain MacLaughlin, with First Lieutenant Ken Gundersen as his wingman.

In December 1943, the squadron was transferred to Marine Corps Air Station Ewa Field on Oahu. In late Jan. 1944, they boarded the USS Kalinin Bay (CVE-68) and sailed for the Gilbert Islands, arriving off Tarawa Atoll on Jan. 24, 1944. The squadron’s 24 Corsairs were catapulted from the carrier and landed at Hawkins Field on Tarawa Island, where Captain MacLaughlin touched down at 9:50 a.m.

Soon after arriving, the squadron received orders to fly onward to Funafuti via Nanumea—an 820-nautical-mile journey over open ocean, with a first leg of 463 miles. On the morning of Jan. 21, 1944, the aircraft began taking off in pairs. Red Flight led the departure, but an outdated weather forecast sent the squadron directly into a severe storm.

Ten aircraft were lost in the storm, and the remaining thirteen were forced to ditch at sea. 

Christian Lauesen experienced engine trouble before his aircraft failed completely. He ditched his Corsair into the ocean. Gundersen spotted him in the water, and First Lieutenant Lehnert, arriving shortly thereafter, observed that Lauesen was wearing his life jacket but had been unable to retrieve his life raft. Lehnert circled overhead for nearly two hours before being forced to ditch his own aircraft nearby. Although Lehnert successfully entered his life raft, he was unable to locate Lauesen. Christian F. Lauesen was later declared missing in action.

The fourth son, Frederick F. Lauesen, also blond-haired and blue-eyed, served as a pilot in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He, too, was deployed to the Pacific Theater, where he was declared missing in action. His official date of death is listed as July 29, 1945. His name appears on the Tablets of the Missing at the West Coast Memorial Cemetery in San Francisco.

After the loss of their third son in military service, Jans and Nelcina Lauesen moved with their only surviving child—ten-year-old Jens—from their Ravenswood apartment to a house on North Mulligan Avenue in Jefferson Park. In the front window of their new home, they displayed a service flag bearing three gold stars.

Soon afterward, a monument flagpole was erected in their front yard, honoring the three sons they lost while serving their adopted country.

Editor’s note: This story was provided by Northwest Chicago Historical Society researcher Frank Suerth. www.nwchicagohistory.org

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