American soldier killed in battle. Born March 1913 in Berkeley, California.
Theodore Vinther enlisted in the United States Army Infantry from San Francisco, California on April 15, 1942, service number 39837735. He was assigned to the 185th Infantry Regiment, 40th Infantry Division, which was engaged in operations to liberate the Philippines. His platoon, under Second Lieutenant Aaron Hanson, was tasked to capture Bago Bridge intact. The bridge was located near Bocolod City, Occidental Negros, Philippines. Vinther volunteered to be one of the men to cross the bridge, which was rigged with explosives, under enemy fire, to overtake the explosives control point. It was 5am the morning of March 29, 1945. Vinther was mortally wounded at the bridge after killing two Japanese soldiers, one of whom was but a few feet from the electrical controls. The capture of this bridge sped the advance of the 40th Infantry Division by two days and took the Japanese by such surprise that they rapidly abandoned the City of Bocolod--they were unable to execute their plans to burn and destroy the city and to inflict pain and death on the civilians as they did in other cities of the nation. According to a local historian, Modesto Saonoy, Vinther was evacuated to Iloilo where he died. For the valor demonstrated in capturing the bridge, all the members of the platoon, including Vinther, were awarded bronze star medals. Vinther was posthumously awarded with Purple Heart. PFC Vinther was not married and had no children. A temporary monument was created soon after his death, and was replaced by a permanent memorial in the Plaza of the City of Bocolod.