Bio
Recruited by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during WWII, Sergeant Leif Bangsboll parachuted into Nazi-occupied Denmark in 1944 and was the only American agent serving in that country. He was commissioned in occupied Denmark and received the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions working with guerrilla forces.
After WWII, he trained as an intelligence officer, serving in a Military Government (now Civil Affairs) company and airborne units.
In November 1950, while assigned to the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team, First Lieutenant Bangsboll earned the Silver Star for combat actions near Pyongwon-ni, North Korea.
In May 1952, Captain Bangsboll was one of the first soldiers to join the newly created U.S. Army Special Forces.
He helped to write and then taught the program of instruction for the SF Qualification course, thereby influencing the Force for decades to come. Before retiring in 1963, Lieutenant Colonel Bangsboll served in the 77th and 10th Special Forces Groups and in several conventional assignments that needed his unconventional warfare experiences.
In 2019, the U.S. Special Operations Command selected him for induction into the Commando Hall of Honor.
