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Olen John Seaman Jr.

LT COL in 23rd Headquarters Co

ASN#20825

Born 1911 in NY, Died 1986

Other residence(s): Bronx, NY; Indianapolis, IN; Walnut Creek, CA; Berkeley, CA; numerous military postings
United States Army, European Theatre of Operations
Occupation before the war: military service
College education before the war: West Point
Notes: Bronze Star; GO 116, Sec 2, Hq ETOUSA, 15 Nov 44. Meritorious Service: Staff Officer (Ln O); West Point class of 1937
Source: Roster of 23d HQ officers, from family of Oscar Seale; Awards and Decorations; West Point Graduates list from Cliff Simenson, 27 Dec 2002; Ghost Army roster by state; photo courtesy Ancestry® (West Point yearbook, 1937)

Olen Seaman was born on September 6, 1911 in the Bronx, NY, the older of two sons. His father worked as a stenographer for a lawyer, and later sold real estate.

Olen worked for a while as a salesman for a steamship line, and eventually attended West Point, graduating in 1937. He married Jean Underwood, the sister of a classmate, on December 10, 1938.

In between graduation and his involvement in World War II, he was stationed at Randolph Field, TX; Fort Benjamin Harrison, IN; Fort Benning, GA; Camp Ord, CA; and Panama. He was assigned to the 23rd Headquarters Company of the Ghost Army, and served in Europe with the unit with the rank of LTC.

After the war, he and Jean became the parents of their only son, Michael. Olen was stationed in Alabama in 1946, and in 1949 the family went to Ankara, Türkiye, where Olen served as an Assistant Military Attaché for three years. (A 1952 shipboard manifest on their return to the US shows them traveling with 37 pieces of luggage!)

His first year, after returning from Ankara, was spent as a professor of military science and tactics, and ROTC Commander, at Ohio University. Then he was transferred to 2nd Army HQ at Fort Meade, MD. Other positions during the subsequent years included a stint as Commander of the East Bay Army Reserves in California. He was stationed in Oakland, CA when he retired on June 30, 1964 and he remained in the area. After retirement, he worked as an appraiser for Contra Costa County, and as a realtor in Orinda, CA.

He was living in Berkeley, CA when he died on January 13, 1986. He is buried at San Francisco National Cemetery in San Francisco, CA.

Photo:

1937 West Point yearbook (see Find a Grave below)

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3541503/olen-john-seaman?_gl=1*kd6p6i*_ga*MjEwMTE3MDIwLjE2NzU2MjkzOTg.*_ga_4QT8FMEX30*MTY3NTcwMDgxNi4zLjEuMTY3NTcwMjI5NS4yOC4wLjA.*_ga_B2YGR3SSMB*Zjc5NWQxYTAtMjJjNS00MGNhLWIyZjAtOTE5MTJkOTZmZjZmLjUxLjEuMTY3NTcwMjI5Ni4yOS4wLjA.

1962 photo in Contra Costa Times (CA)

https://www.newspapers.com/image/746071743/?terms=%22olen%20j%20seaman%22&match=1

Sources:

1915 NY state census

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/10677435:2703?ssrc=pt&tid=181870536&pid=242413211199

1920 census

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/86013446:6061?ssrc=pt&tid=181870536&pid=242413211199

1930 census

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/31355176:6224?ssrc=pt&tid=181870536&pid=242413211199

1938 article in the Daily Press (Newport News VA) about his military career

https://www.newspapers.com/image/231449595/?terms=%22olen%20j%20seaman%22&match=1

1938 engagement announcement in the Indianapolis News (IN)

https://www.newspapers.com/image/314345948/?article=518d36a8-81d5-44d6-97fd-f2a7cb752a3e&focus=0.1173505,0.052543752,0.85404336,0.67927426&xid=3398&_gl=1*32yz65*_ga*MjEwMTE3MDIwLjE2NzU2MjkzOTg.*_ga_4QT8FMEX30*MTY3NTcwMDgxNi4zLjEuMTY3NTcwMjQ2My40Ny4wLjA.*_ga_B2YGR3SSMB*Zjc5NWQxYTAtMjJjNS00MGNhLWIyZjAtOTE5MTJkOTZmZjZmLjUxLjEuMTY3NTcwMjQ2NC40Ni4wLjA.&_ga=2.111672452.1430991123.1675629398-210117020.1675629398

1938 article in the Indianapolis News (IN) about his marriage

https://www.newspapers.com/image/314395356/?terms=%22olen%20j%20seaman%22&match=1

1940 census

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/55059870:2442?ssrc=pt&tid=181870536&pid=242413211199

1940 article in the Indianapolis Star (IN) about his military career

https://www.newspapers.com/image/106364268/?terms=%22olen%20j%20seaman%22&match=1

1940 article in the Daily Press (Newport News VA) about his military career

https://www.newspapers.com/image/230199942/?terms=%22olen%20j%20seaman%22&match=1

1941 Salinas CA city directory

https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2469/images/3134282?pId=204617897

1941 article in the Stockton Evening and Sunday Record (CA) about his military career

https://www.newspapers.com/image/843760820/?terms=%22olen%20j%20seaman%22&match=1

1949 shipboard manifest as he and his family head from NY to Beirut for 3 years

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=60882&h=6748075&tid=&pid=&queryId=968ee049ad0c1cddfe774d2a2386baaa&usePUB=true&_phsrc=QUd5&_phstart=successSource&_gl=1*5cfkn0*_ga*MjEwMTE3MDIwLjE2NzU2MjkzOTg.*_ga_4QT8FMEX30*MTY3NTc5NjkwMi42LjEuMTY3NTc5NzA3Ni4zOC4wLjA.*_ga_B2YGR3SSMB*Zjc5NWQxYTAtMjJjNS00MGNhLWIyZjAtOTE5MTJkOTZmZjZmLjU0LjEuMTY3NTc5NzA3Ny4zNy4wLjA.

1950 Foreign Service List (see p. 67)

https://www.google.com/books/edition/List_of_Officers_of_the_Department_of_St/Sj0F4M3h8SAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=olen%20j%20seaman&pg=PA67&printsec=frontcover

1952 shipboard manifest as he and his family return from their time in Türkiye (to NY from Piraeus, Greece)

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/10071358:8745?tid=&pid=&queryId=c8f9a74dc000be259068a87f30cc003d&_phsrc=Bcb5&_phstart=successSource

1953 article in the Athens Messenger (OH) about his stint at Ohio University

https://newspaperarchive.com/athens-messenger-jul-02-1953-p-5/

1956 US Select Military Registers

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/2587654:2345?ssrc=pt&tid=181870536&pid=242413211199

1986 VA death record

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/4162676:2441?ssrc=pt&tid=181870536&pid=242413211199

1986 California death record

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/6617885:5180?ssrc=pt&tid=181870536&pid=242413211199

1986 Find a Grave record

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3541503/olen-john-seaman?_gl=1*kd6p6i*_ga*MjEwMTE3MDIwLjE2NzU2MjkzOTg.*_ga_4QT8FMEX30*MTY3NTcwMDgxNi4zLjEuMTY3NTcwMjI5NS4yOC4wLjA.*_ga_B2YGR3SSMB*Zjc5NWQxYTAtMjJjNS00MGNhLWIyZjAtOTE5MTJkOTZmZjZmLjUxLjEuMTY3NTcwMjI5Ni4yOS4wLjA.

1986 US Veterans' Gravesites

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/2748456:8750?ssrc=pt&tid=181870536&pid=242413211199

1986 death notice in the Sacramento Bee (CA)

https://www.newspapers.com/image/622913117/?article=38a30762-8f13-4abb-91b0-f87d2ec760c3

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