Monday, January 16, 2006
Unsung Heroes - Svend Lassen
“Unsung Heroes”
By Ian Lowden B.A., M.Sc.
Svend Lassen, 83, has lived on Gabriola in a log house he designed for the last 15 years. While I was finishing this article I got a call from Svend’s family--he had passed away earlier that day (May 18th) surrounded by family at Nanaimo Hospital. This article had just become an obituary. So what made Swen a hero? Come; let’s explore his life.
Svend was born in Denmark to a family with a long tradition of becoming ship’s captains. Svend (at age 16) was aboard the Danmark, along with 120 other sea cadets, attending the 1939 World’s Fair in New York when World War II broke out. The Danmark was a sailing ship used by the Danish government to train their future ship’s officers. Svend was on a year long training cruise that had included a 38 day crossing from Denmark up the coast of Norway touching on the arctic circle and stopping over on Greenland and then down to New York for the world’s fair (where television was first unveiled). He had already learned to stand watch, eat hardtack, chip ice off the rigging a hundred feet above the deck in rough seas, and live in crowded crew quarters.
Unwilling to return to Denmark and risk torpedoing, the ship set sail for the Caribbean where it cruised until the Nazis invaded Denmark. Unable to continue to be at risk, the ship put into Jacksonville, Florida for safe haven. Ordered by the Nazis to return to Denmark, the Captain and crew decided to mutiny and offered the ship to the American navy. They were in Jacksonville, penniless and dependent on the courtesy of the Jacksonville people until the Americans entered the war. Early in 1942 the ship sailed to New London where they trained 5,000 American coast guard officers throughout the war. As the cadets became old enough they joined the American Merchant Marine. Svend spent the last two years crewing oil tankers to England and later the Mediterranean. Svend says they lived with the constant knowledge that one torpedo meant their lives.
After the war Svend joined 30 other former shipmates to sail the Danmark back to Copenhagen. He then spent 4 years in naval college and became an officer on a new commercial ship.
Svend met Connie (his wife to be) when she came onboard in San Francisco in 1950. Connie, from Nanaimo, was only the second woman wireless operator to ever serve aboard a merchant ship. After several months sailing together, they married in New York and returned to Denmark. Connie lived with Svend’s family while he spent the next two years at sea. Finishing his tour he resigned his commission and brought his wife back to Nanaimo (his father disowned him for this action).
Back in Nanaimo, Svend took a job at Harmac Pulp Mill, where he worked for the next 30 years, raising 3 daughters and a son. Tragically, the love of his life died in her fifties from a heart weakened by contracting Scarlet Fever as a child.
So what was it that made Svend a hero? Was it that he went to sea at 16, or his wartime experience, or giving up his family, culture, language and country for his wife, or working hard to raise his children? It was all of these, and the way that Svend always faced his duty, trusted his judgement, and took responsibility for doing what he believed to be right. Four successful children and three grandchildren are a testament and legacy to him and his one true love. He never shirked his duty or took the easy path, and in his 83 years he touched the lives of thousands of friends, co-workers, shipmates and acquaintances and through that touching he made the world a little bit better place to live in. The values he and Connie raised their children with will go on touching thousands of other lives. Svend always saw himself as a lucky man who had a wonderful life, and at the end, he faced death with the same courage and duty as he had lived. When it comes right down to it I think that is what a hero is.
Svend Lassen
20 March 1922 – 18 May 2005
By Ian Lowden B.A., M.Sc.
Svend Lassen, 83, has lived on Gabriola in a log house he designed for the last 15 years. While I was finishing this article I got a call from Svend’s family--he had passed away earlier that day (May 18th) surrounded by family at Nanaimo Hospital. This article had just become an obituary. So what made Swen a hero? Come; let’s explore his life.
Svend was born in Denmark to a family with a long tradition of becoming ship’s captains. Svend (at age 16) was aboard the Danmark, along with 120 other sea cadets, attending the 1939 World’s Fair in New York when World War II broke out. The Danmark was a sailing ship used by the Danish government to train their future ship’s officers. Svend was on a year long training cruise that had included a 38 day crossing from Denmark up the coast of Norway touching on the arctic circle and stopping over on Greenland and then down to New York for the world’s fair (where television was first unveiled). He had already learned to stand watch, eat hardtack, chip ice off the rigging a hundred feet above the deck in rough seas, and live in crowded crew quarters.
Unwilling to return to Denmark and risk torpedoing, the ship set sail for the Caribbean where it cruised until the Nazis invaded Denmark. Unable to continue to be at risk, the ship put into Jacksonville, Florida for safe haven. Ordered by the Nazis to return to Denmark, the Captain and crew decided to mutiny and offered the ship to the American navy. They were in Jacksonville, penniless and dependent on the courtesy of the Jacksonville people until the Americans entered the war. Early in 1942 the ship sailed to New London where they trained 5,000 American coast guard officers throughout the war. As the cadets became old enough they joined the American Merchant Marine. Svend spent the last two years crewing oil tankers to England and later the Mediterranean. Svend says they lived with the constant knowledge that one torpedo meant their lives.
After the war Svend joined 30 other former shipmates to sail the Danmark back to Copenhagen. He then spent 4 years in naval college and became an officer on a new commercial ship.
Svend met Connie (his wife to be) when she came onboard in San Francisco in 1950. Connie, from Nanaimo, was only the second woman wireless operator to ever serve aboard a merchant ship. After several months sailing together, they married in New York and returned to Denmark. Connie lived with Svend’s family while he spent the next two years at sea. Finishing his tour he resigned his commission and brought his wife back to Nanaimo (his father disowned him for this action).
Back in Nanaimo, Svend took a job at Harmac Pulp Mill, where he worked for the next 30 years, raising 3 daughters and a son. Tragically, the love of his life died in her fifties from a heart weakened by contracting Scarlet Fever as a child.
So what was it that made Svend a hero? Was it that he went to sea at 16, or his wartime experience, or giving up his family, culture, language and country for his wife, or working hard to raise his children? It was all of these, and the way that Svend always faced his duty, trusted his judgement, and took responsibility for doing what he believed to be right. Four successful children and three grandchildren are a testament and legacy to him and his one true love. He never shirked his duty or took the easy path, and in his 83 years he touched the lives of thousands of friends, co-workers, shipmates and acquaintances and through that touching he made the world a little bit better place to live in. The values he and Connie raised their children with will go on touching thousands of other lives. Svend always saw himself as a lucky man who had a wonderful life, and at the end, he faced death with the same courage and duty as he had lived. When it comes right down to it I think that is what a hero is.
Svend Lassen
20 March 1922 – 18 May 2005
