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Found documents reveal history of local World War I veteran who lived in Bakersfield

The Bakersfield Californian - 3/14/2023

Mar. 11—It was an unusual message, even for a journalist who receives more than his share of unusual messages.

Bernt Erik Nilsen, a retiree and stamp collector in San Diego, was calling to say he had purchased an old envelope at an auction held by a group of stamp collectors.

He paid just $5 for the envelope to add to his stamp collection. But when he took possession he realized the envelope was addressed to a David L. Kofahl, at 2130 Cedar St. in Bakersfield.

That was intriguing enough, but it got better.

The envelope was stuffed with official documents from the U.S. Army, dated more than 100 years ago — all related to Kofahl's experience in the military and his service during World War I, the war that was supposed "to end all wars."

"David Kofahl must have been a pretty good soldier," said Nilsen, who immigrated to the United States from Norway decades ago and still speaks with a distinctive accent.

"He enlisted Nov. 24, 1917," Nilsen said of Kofahl, "became a sergeant on Aug. 17, 1918, and a sergeant first class on May 19, 1919," he said.

"I see that he was a machinist by trade, and 29 years old when he enlisted, which would probably have made him a very valuable asset to the Army Air Corps."

Nilsen went to the trouble of reaching out to this reporter, because he felt if there was a chance descendants of the long-dead soldier could be found, the documents should eventually be placed in their hands.

Nilsen mailed the papers to The Californian, and the search began.

"Please let me know if you have any success in getting anyone in the family interested," he said.

Thanks to social media it wasn't difficult to track down a descendent of David L. Kofahl.

His name is David F. Kofahl. He's an architect in Los Angeles, and he is definitely interested.

"This is truly wonderful to hear about these documents and that you are interested in making a story of it," the younger Kofahl said in a text.

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