A Lifetime of Honor

Palisadian Sven Svendsen Awarded Two Medals of Honor at 100 Years Old

By MAGNOLIA LAFLEUR | Reporter

The year was 1940—one week before the Nazis invaded Norway—and Sven Svendsen, a Norwegian sophomore in high school and Army volunteer, was practicing routine drills of self-defense against a possible invasion in the Aseral Mountains in Southern Norway.

Upon concluding the drills, all the weapons that were used during the exercises were turned into the Norwegian Army Division headquarters in Kristiansand, when on April 9, rehearsal became a bleak reality: After all the weapons were suddenly confiscated, it was clear, the Nazi invasion had begun.

This was the beginning of a series of transformative events that forever altered the course and life of Svendsen, a Palisadian for more than five decades.

An intimate gathering of family and friends convened on Saturday, November 20, to surprise Svendsen with a special guest: Helge Marstrander, deputy chief of mission from the Norwegian Consul from San Francisco, who delivered a personalized note from Norway’s Majesty King Harald the V.

Marstrander not only came to issue a congratulatory letter from King Harald to Svendsen for his 100th birthday—something done for every Norwegian citizen who turns 100 years old—but also to present him with two Medals of Honor, the Competitive Medal from the Norwegian Government and the Norwegian Armed Forces Medal from the King, in recognition of his work in the Norwegian Resistance.

“Sven’s story is a true inspiration to all of us and may help us find courage when needed,” Marstrander said during the ceremony. “The Norwegian national anthem has a line … that translates to ‘even we, when it is demanded.’ It refers to how we all must come together in times of dire straits, just as Svendsen and other veterans came forward to make an effort during WW II.

“They took a stand and fought for our shared values: democracy, human dignity, the rule of law and the freedom that resolves from these values. Values worth fighting for.”

Svendsen was born on November 23, 1921, in Kristiansand, Norway, to Ragnhild Bollaeren and Sverre Svendsen.

His childhood was filled with playing soccer, swimming, fishing and skiing in the winters, as well as his daily job of shoveling a narrow passageway in front of the house, tending his chicken coop and long excursions through the mountains as an eager Boy Scout.

In his memoir, “Sven’s Story,” he reminisced, “It was a good time to grow up. Though the Depression must have been tough on my parents, my sisters, Liv, Helga, Ester, and I were unaware of any economic worries.”

His mother, he recalled, “was the most unselfish, giving person I’ve ever known.” She died at 92.

His father, an avid gardener and dentist, was helping the underground by distributing Resistance newspapers when the Germans invaded. He was eventually sent to the Grini prison camp in Oslo in 1944. While he survived, his health, due to the poor conditions and scarce food, never fully recovered and he passed away at 71.

As for Svendsen, he was constantly standing counter to the Nazis: He would use his radio that was hidden in the stove to transmit information about the location of German war ships to the underground in London from his room, where he lived as a student at the Norwegian Institute of Technology.

He joined several underground groups formed to combat their tyranny.

“During the war years, students were much more galvanized against the Germans than the population at large,” Svendsen wrote in his book. “Life under a German dictatorship was hardly worth living, and it was in our best interest to help overturn the occupation.”

The dangers that Svendsen and many students at the time faced through their fidelity to the underground movement tested their courage as they committed, with full awareness, to face death head on, an understood consequence should they be caught.

But nothing truly magnifies the heroic nature of Svendsen more than that of his rescue of American lieutenant and Massachusetts Jewish medical student, David C. Besbris.

On November 16, 1943, Besbris bailed out of a B-17, a four-engined heavy bomber, that he served as the navigator. While the other nine crew members were taken as prisoners, Besbris was kept safe for 90 days by non-English speaking, Norwegian farmers. Later, via contact through the underground movement, Svendsen helped him evade capture. Besbris was the first American he had ever met.

“It was a very cold, dark, winter night when I first met David, with temperatures so low that the snow under our boots squeaked,” Svendsen wrote. “We had a long way to walk, about 10 miles to another cottage owned by a friend of mine.”

Eventually, through many daring situations, Svendsen helped Besbris, who had been missing in action for 100 days, safely cross the Swedish border where they were separated.

Besbris, relieved to have survived the entire ordeal, collapsed with tears of joy.

In May of 1945, the German forces surrendered to the Allies. Many lives in Norway were saved due to the heroic deeds of the Resistance. Norway’s freedom was restored when German forces surrendered to the Norwegian Freedom Fighters, a moment in history every Norwegian knows and treasures.

Svendsen moved onto the next chapter of his life in New York in 1948, with his education and only $45 in his pocket as an Engineer. He went on to get his American citizenship in 1954 and contributed to building structures in the United States and all over the world. He built icecap stations in Thule, Greenland, five air bases and one large harbor in Spain. He became general manager of the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research and eventually went on to work in Korea, Japan and finally Los Angeles.

“He opened the world to us to experience other peoples and cultures, always trying to broaden our horizons,” his second eldest daughter, Berit Wright, told the Palisadian-Post.

Svendsen and his wife of over 55 years, Wanda, who he described as his “best friend and love of his life,” moved to Pacific Palisades in 1965, where they embraced a happy, full family life.

The Palisades has been Svendsen’s home ever since. Family members shared that he loves his neighbors and many people in the community whose lives have touched him from his doctor, Alison Garb, to the helpful people at Gelson’s.

He is well known for his weekly hikes to the top of Inspiration Point at Will Rogers State Historic Park in his white track jacket with an image of the world wrapped on it. For 60 years he has frequented Palisades Barber Shop, and he often dines at Cathay Palisades.

His memoir, written by him and members of his family, came to fruition when illness had fallen upon Wanda, and his children thought it an encouraging way to deal with the lachrymatory time, by reminiscing on the life they had made together.

It was Svendsen’s son-in-law, Nils Finne, who wrote the consulate of Norway in order to procure a letter from the King celebrating Svendsen’s 100 birthday. To his astonishment, they wrote back wanting to additionally recognize him for his heroic deeds.

Randi Svendsen, his youngest daughter, explained to the Post about the significance of that day, saying, “I think my father’s medal is important because he is such a private person and for years he never wanted to talk about this period of his life to others, except to family and friends.”

“My father puts the needs of others before his own,” Liv Finne, his eldest daughter, said to the Post. “He raised us, and then helped us raise our own families. He taught us to be steadfast and true to our family, to our friends and acquaintances, to Norway and our family there, and to our country, no matter the distance, no matter the difficulty.”

It was discussed the day of the ceremony how the concept of heroes has evolved to comic book characters, counterfeit archetypes that are often depicted as transcendent beings worth aspiring to. When in reality true super heroes require a key ingredient: mortal sacrifice in the line of fire. As Marstrander said while pinning the Medal of Honor to Svendsen’s jacket during the celebration: “He was courageous and truly deserves to be recognized. He put his life in danger for our values and our freedoms. We are forever grateful.”

Not only is sacrifice a pivotal element to a true hero, but disciplined morality. Svendsen’s daughter Mia Banks explained to the Post that her dad taught her how important it is to follow her moral compass.

“He taught me to do the right thing, even if the decision made the path difficult. He always asked us about our five-year plan. Maybe the easiest way to 100 is to follow your moral compass, one five-year plan at a time.”

The truest of heroes are indeed not flashy but often hidden, stoic and humble, like Svendsen.

When asked if he had ever been given a medal for his contribution to the liberation of Norway, he simply replied: “I didn’t expect a medal, because that is just what we did.”