This Military Service Page was created/owned by
SA Stuart Dahl-Historian
to remember
Dahl, Orville, PFC.
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Contact Info
Home Town Golden Valley Post Office, MN
Location of Interment Saint Bernard Cemetery - Thief River Falls, Minnesota
At the end of WWII, Orville returned to his home in Northern Minnesota and began to pursue his vocation as a sheetmetal worker, a trade he trained for prior to being drafted. He married Ursula Amiot and the two of them eventually made their home in Thief River Falls, MN, raising four children.
He took a job in Southern Minnesota for a time, but returned to Thief River Falls, where he joined Brodin's, doing sheetmetal work for furnace ductwork and various other projects. It was a short 3 block walk to Brodin's from home.
He continued to help his father on weekends on the family farm near Grygla, MN, until 1971, when his dad died.
He retired from Brodin's when he reached age 65 with over 30 years with them, and traveled the USA on a variety of trips with his in-laws. After retiring he did side work for Brodin's whenever they needed an extra hand or had a complex bending problem.
When he passed away Brodin's continued to look after the furnace repairs to his wife's (my mothers) house.
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Synopsis of Pfc Orville Dahl's Army Service
Date
Jul 29, 2008
Last Updated: Jul 30, 2008
Comments
My father, Orville Edson Dahl, served in the U.S. Army during World War II.
He was inducted on 7 Oct 1942, and reported to Fort Snelling, MN, on 20 Oct 1942 for active service. Trained at Camp White and Camp Adair, OR, with the 91st Infantry Division (the "Powder River Division").
He was assigned to Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 362nd Infantry Regiment, 91st Infantry Division. The division was later attached to II Corps, 5th Army. His MOS was Scout 761.
In April 1944 the division deployed to Northern Africa for in-theater staging and further training. By early June 1944 detached regiments were in combat at Anzio, then by July 1944 the entire division was engaging with the enemy as a single unit in Italy.
He saw action in the following Italy campaigns: Rome-Arno, Po River Valley, and Northern Apennines. He served as one of the battalion's Forward Observers, scouting and directing artillery fire. He was often in a two-man or three-man team, far ahead of friendly lines with a radio and/or field telephone; binoculars and map; a rifle and a sidearm.
According to his discharge papers he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal (awarded on 10 June 1945 for heroic action on 17 October 1944 near Lucca, Italy), Good Conduct Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Service Medal, (2) Overseas Bars, and the Combat Infantryman Badge. However, on his uniform he had 3 Overseas Bars and one Slash Mark.
Highest rank: Private First Class.
Honorably discharged on 29 Oct 1945 at Camp (Fort) McCoy, WI, at the "convenience of the Government (de-mobilization)" ... end of the war.
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He had just completed vocational training as a sheetmetal worker prior to getting his draft notice. It bugged him throughout his life that the Army sent other unskilled and untrained men into technical trades instead of him when he was already qualified.
He volunteered to be a Scout while assigned to Camp White or Camp Adair.
He was sometimes called "Gopher" by his buddies due to the fact that he was from Minnesota, the Gopher State, and because when the unit took gunfire not only would he hit the dirt faster than most others, he was able to quick-draw his entrenching tool fast enough that it often struck the dirt before he did. He said he could throw a small berm up in front of him almost as fast as his fellow soldiers could reposition themselves to return fire. His returning fire was often only a shot or two behind the bulk of the others.
He told me that as a forward observer, he would take extra wire and lay his field telephone wires out in long "S" shaped paths so that if the enemy was tracking the line they would most likely pass in back of his concealed post a couple of times, giving him an opportunity to see or hear them before they found him.
He didn't like using the radio because of the excellent radio-tracking capabilties of the Germans, so he favored the field telephone. He even preferred going out to repair the wires to using the radio. During one posting, he was rudely awakened by incoming artillery to his position (his partner and he were taking turns catching naps, typical procedure when out front for a day or more). It appeared that his partner was using the radio to pass info back to HQ and the Germans zeroed in. He told me that he grabbed his weapons and back-pack along with as much other gear as he could readily carry and immediately vacated the position, cussing his partner out. The land line had apparently been broken and the other guy didn't want to wake him up so they could repair it.
Although he was an avid hunter prior to the war, he never hunted afterwards. He said he was sometimes haunted by some of the close combat incidents, especially the cries of the wounded and dying he had shot while defending his observation post.
He seldom talked about any of his military service. He never talked to me about his combat experiences until after I was in the Navy, and then only one time, after much cajoling on my part and plying him with sufficient quantities of alcohol.
His only advice for me after I enlisted was to volunteer for anything that came up, because his experience was that usually it got you out of other mundane tasks.