Evan Dee Olsen papers, 1941-1945

Series — Box: 1

Identifier: MSS 6124 Series 2

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Journal, scrapbook letters, drawings, photograph, military ephemera and speech created by Evan Dee Olsen and collected by his mother Katie Christensen Olsen.

Dates

Other: 1941-1945

Conditions Governing Access

Open for public research.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from the Evan Dee Olsen papers must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Coordinating Committee.

Biographical/Historical note

Evan Dee Olsen was born February 1, 1922 in Ephraim, Utah, to James Andrew Olsen and Katie Christensen Olsen. On August 4, 1943 he was inducted into the Army Air Corps. On his third mission as a ball turret gunner, his B-17 bomber was hit by anti-aircraft fire and Olsen spent the remaining months of the war in Europe as a prisoner of war. During his imprisonment, he kept a small diary and completed a series of drawings and sketches. In July 1945, Olsen married Maxine Coates. He and his wife later divorced. Evan Dee Olsen died in a small plane crash on May 15, 1967.