World War II Honoree

Chad Charles Nelson

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Redmond, Utah

Honored By

Brent L. Nelson

Relationship

Son

He was an 18 year old farmhand, employed by his father in Redmond, Utah, when he received his Selective Service induction notification on November 3, 1943. He entered active service in the United States Army on November 24th at Fort Douglas, Utah and was shortly thereafter sent by rail to Portland, Oregon for Basic Training. He was assigned to Company 'A', 29th Engineer Photomapping Battalion. He received his M1 Carbine qualification in February 1944. Following Basic, he was assigned to Company 'B' of the same Battalion for photo-topography school, learning the skills of creating battle maps from aerial reconnaissance photos. he was selected to join a newly created unit, the 1633rd Engineer Photomapping Platoon. he remained with the 1633rd for the remainder of the war. On August 13, 1944, his unit was shipped to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations, landing in Hawaii on August 21, 1944. They were taken to Schofield Army Camp and barracks, and continued the work mapping islands in the South Pacific, some of which were later invaded. While they were there, they participated in training in jungle fighting. They remained there for 6 months. On March 11, 1945, they boarded the USS Rockingham and crossed the International Dateline on March 15. They stopped at several islands on the way including Saipan. After a week, they moved on to Guam to Admiral Nimitz's Headquarters. They continued their mapping, this time working on the Southern Islands of Japan. The 1633rd remained on Guam, through Japan's capitulation in August, then they were assigned as part of the Army Occupation Forces of Japan, and moved on to Tokyo through Yokohama Harbor. They were stationed near General Douglas MacArthur’s Headquarters. He was promoted to Acting First Sergeant, supervising the platoon. His turn for rotation home came on April 3, 1946. He landed in Seattle, Washington, and then went to Camp Beale, California to be discharged on April 22, 1946. He was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the WWII Victory Medal, and the Army of Occupation Medal.