Eric A. Antonson

Biography:  Eric A. Antonson was born Erik Arvid Saaf on December 17, 1911 in Bemidji (Beltrami County), Minnesota.  His name was changed to Eric Antonson when his mother married Birger Antonson.  His birth parents were Erik Algot Saaf from Sweden and Lorentina Regina Olsen from Norway.  After leaving school, Eric worked on a number of farms in the Warren, MN area including the Carl E. Anderson, Ralph Rue, and E. F. Backstrom farms. He would later own his own farm northeast of the city.
 

Service Time:  Eric entered the service in March of 1942 and received his basic training at Fort Lewis, Washington.  He was transferred into the 776th Tank Destroyer Battalion and received additional training at Camp Hood, Texas. He shipped overseas in December 1942 and landed in North Africa late in January, 1943. He served in Africa seeing action in Tunisia, then onto Sicily, Salerno, France and was killed in the Battle of the Bulge, December 12, 1944.  Eric received four citations for his service in June 1943, while in Tunisia; April 1944 in Italy and June and September 1944 while in France.  He reached the rank of Staff Sergeant during his service time.

Eric was originally buried in France but was re-interred in the Greenwood Cemetery in Warren, Minnesota.  His obituary from the Warren Sheaf identify that his re-interment services were held on Monday, Dec. 10, 1948 at the Quanrud Chapel on Monday afternoon by Rev. W. A. Fleagle. Music was furnished by a male quartet. Pall bearers were Nels Freng, John P. Engelstad, Donald Willey, Robert Friebohle, L. A. Miller, and H. L. , all Legionnaires.

While in the service, Eric sent a number of letters home, which his great-niece Marisa transcribed to make them easier to read.

January 31, 1943

April 13, 1943

July 25, 1943

August 30, 1943

The last photo is of Eric and his half-sister Anne "Anna" to whom he writes in his letters.  I want to thank Marisa for providing this information and photos.