Ed Dahlgren long will be remembered

Maine lost one of its most-decorated war heroes in its history earlier this week when 90-year- old World War II Medal of Honor winner Ed Dahlgren of Blaine died at the Maine Veterans’ Home in Caribou.

Dahlgren was a sergeant and platoon leader on Feb. 11, 1945, when he won the nation’s highest award for bravery “above and beyond the call of duty” in action in the small French crossroads village of Oberhoffen. A subsequent battlefield commission promoted him to lieutenant for his leadership under fire.

Prior to Memorial Day five years ago I spent an hour with Dahlgren and his wife, Pauline, in an interview arranged by Mars Hill businessman Bob Tweedie. As a farewell to the humble and unassuming Old Soldier born at Perham on March 14, 1916, I have lifted excerpts from that column to remind us – lest we forget – what a remarkable feat the man accomplished while fighting for his country on that winter day in France more than 60 years ago.

The Medal of Honor citation states that Dahlgren’s “bold leadership and magnificent courage displayed in his heroic attacks were in a large measure responsible for repulsing an enemy counterattack and saving an American platoon from great danger.”

According to the citation, here’s how Dahlgren’s day went:

“As he advanced along a street, he observed several Germans crossing a field about 100 yards away. Running into a barn, he took up a position in a window and swept the hostile troops with submachinegun fire, killing six, wounding others, and completely disorganizing the group.

“His platoon then moved forward through intermittent sniper fire and made contact with the besieged Americans. When the two platoons had been reorganized, Sgt. Dahlgren continued to advance along the street until he drew fire from an enemy-held house. In the face of machine-pistol and rifle fire, he ran toward the building, hurled a grenade through the door and blasted his way inside with his gun.

“This aggressive attack so rattled the Germans that all eight men who held the strongpoint immediately surrendered. As Sgt. Dahlgren started toward the next house, hostile machinegun fire drove him to cover. He secured the rifle grenades, stepped to an exposed position and calmly launched his missiles from a difficult angle until he had destroyed the machinegun and killed its two operators.

“He moved to the rear of the house and suddenly came under the fire of a machinegun emplaced in a barn. Throwing a grenade into the structure, he rushed the position. Firing his weapon as he ran within, he overwhelmed five Germans. After reorganizing his unit he advanced to clear hostile riflemen from the building where he had destroyed the machinegun. He entered the house by a window and trapped the Germans in the cellar, where he tossed grenades into their midst, wounding several and forcing 10 more to surrender.

“While reconnoitering another street with a comrade, he heard German voices in a house. An attack with rifle grenades drove the hostile troops to the cellar. Dahlgren entered the building, kicked open the cellar door, and, firing several bursts down the stairway, called for the trapped enemy to surrender. Sixteen soldiers filed out, with their hands in the air.”

Eight enemy killed, more than 30 captured. And Dahlgren never suffered so much as a scratch in the action, although he had been wounded earlier in the war in fighting on a godforsakingly steep mountain at Cassino, Italy.

In addition to the Medal of Honor, Dahlgren also received the Silver Star for gallantry in action, three Bronze Stars, the Purple Heart, the French Croix de Guerre, and, just this past April, the French Legion of Honor, highest award bestowed by that country.

Reluctant to talk about his exploits for many years after he returned home from the war to become a state potato inspector in his native Aroostook County, Dahlgren was less so in his later years.

Pressed for details about that day at Oberhoffen, he replied simply, “The Germans had the town and we wanted it. They stopped us for a while, and then I stopped them with a tommy gun and rifle grenades. I was a good shot…”

When President Harry S. Truman draped the Medal of Honor around Dahlgren’s neck in a White House ceremony in August 1945 he told the 26 recipients he’d rather win the Medal of Honor than be President of the United States.

“I thought that was really something,” Dahlgren said.

Ed Dahlgren: Bona fide national hero, devoted husband, father and grandfather, civic leader, common man. May he rest in peace.

NEWS columnist Kent Ward lives in Winterport. His e-mail address is olddawg@bangordailynews.net.