Major  Richard “Dick” Jenson was killed on April 1st, 1943, while serving in in World War II during the Battle of El Guettar in Tunisia.

As a Captain, Jenson served as aide-de-camp to then Lieutenant General George S. Patton.  Jenson was posthumously promoted to Major.

In the 1970 film Patton, Jenson is portrayed by actor Morgan Paul and is featured prominently in the early part of the film.

Dick Jenson was born in California on March 23, 1916, and raised in Los Angeles.  He attended UCLA and was senior cadet in the ROTC program.  Following graduation, he was commissioned in the Army and attended training at Fort Benning, Ga.  

The Jenson and Patton families were close before the war and Patton made sure to have the 27-year-old Captain at his side when he arrived in North Africa.  Patton was a father figure to Jenson who lost his father some years earlier.  

Jenson was serving in a command post on April 1st when it was attacked by enemy aircraft.  The officer and staff scrambled into slit trenches when the aircraft made their bombing run.  Jenson was killed by the concussion of the bombs and his wristwatch was shattered – the watch stopped at 10:12 am.  

The day Jenson was killed, Patton wrote Jenson’s mother: “Had Dick been my own son I could hardly feel worse. . .. It’s just awful. I can’t realize it.”  Patton described Jenson as “the bravest of the brave” and was deeply affected by his death.  

Jenson was initially buried in a temporary grave in Tunisia, and Patton attended the funeral, a scene which is depicted in the film.   Before leaving Tunisia, Patton visited Jenson’s grave on April 15th to “tell Dick goodbye.”   

Following the war, Jenson’s remains were repatriated to the U.S. at the request of his family.  He was interred in Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego on March 18, 1949, in Section H, Site 472.  

More than 400,000 Americans dies overseas during World War II and of the over 280,000 recovered American remains, over 171,000 were repatriated back to the U.S. for final interment.  Approximately 20 percent of those repatriated were buried in National Cemeteries including Major Jenson.  
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Sources: 

Hymel, K. M. (2014). “The Bravest and Best”: PATTON AND THE DEATH OF CAPT. RICHARD JENSON IN NORTH AFRICA. Army History, 91, 30–40. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26300200

Jenson’s temporary grave in Tunisia.  The flowers on the grave were placed there by General Patton (Photo Credit – Library of Congress)

Photo of Dick Jenson in Tunisia reportedly on the day he was killed. (Photo Credit - Library of Congress)

Photo of Dick Jenson, US Army officer, with googles resting on his helmet

RICHARD N JENSON

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