Donald Dahlin
Bio
Donald Dahlin was born in South Dakota on May 27, 1945. He was drafted into the US Army in 1965 and served in Vietnam. It was a very traumatic experience for him, which led to a serious bout of depression that he was thankfully able to overcome. He came to know and appreciate a gentleman in his hometown that served in the Korean War, who he later found out was a prisoner of war. He wanted to honor his memory by sharing his story. (This is an abbreviated interview.)
Video Clips
Remembering a Hometown Hero
Donald Dahlin remembers a hometown hero, Noble Nelson. He shares his experience of knowing him most of his life but never knowing he was a prisoner of war. He describes him as being a hero but that he struggled with the recognition he received from his hometown. He proudly recalls his story that was put into a book by Mr. Nelson's loving wife. (This interview ends abruptly.)
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Video Transcript
[Beginning of Transcribed Material]
D: My name is Donald, middle initial A.. Last name is DAHLIN, Dahlin.
I: Does that have an ethnic origin?
D: Swede.
I: Swede.
D: Yeah.
I: There are many Swedish here in South Dakota.
D: Oh yeah. A lot of them come from St. Louis, Kansas City to Sioux City, Iowa and then disperse out through Southeastern South Dakota.
I: Um hm.
0:00:30
And are you a veteran?
D: Yes. I’m a Viet Nam veteran.
I: When did you go there?
D: I was drafted in 1965. And I was in Viet Nam in 1966 to ’67.
I: Uh huh. What was your unit?
D: I was with the 1st Infantry Division.
I: First Infantry?
D: Yes.
I: And regiment, battalion?
D: Well, Headquarters Company 3rd Brigade.
I: Um hm.
0:01:00
Third Brigade.
D: Yes.
I: Alright. And what is your birthday by the way?
D: Five 27 of ’45.
I: And were you born here?
D: Yes.
I: Uh huh.
D: Born and raised and lived in the same township all my life. The only place I ever went was Viet Nam.
I: Tell me about the Viet Nam War. What is it to you?
0:01:30
D: It’s an emotional thing, you know. I think anyone that’s served in the service in the military and goes off to, you know, they didn’t call Viet Nam or Korea a war. They called it a conflict or whatever you want to call it. But we’re still exposed to the trauma that you deal with
0:02:00
in the military.
I: But nobody called Viet Nam War a conflict, right?
D: Well, you know, they called it a lot of things, you know.
I: For example?
D: They didn’t want to call it a war, you know, yeah. We all called it the Viet Nam War.
I: Yeah.
D: But you know, a lot of the system doesn’t recognize it as a war.
I: Um hm.
D: So, I,
0:02:30
As far as Viet Nam and what it, I guess it’s an emotional time, and it’s something that, you know, I live with every day. And some of the things that you hear about people
0:03:00
dealing in the military and their service and this type of thing, I’ll be truthful. I never believed in those things, you know, flash backs.
I: Um hm.
D: PTSD and those types of things until you’ve experienced them.
I: And you have been now.
D: Yes. And it’s, like I say, I didn’t believe in those things. I thought it was just a joke, you know.
I: I still think it is. I cannot believe that you wake up in the middle of the night.
0:03:30
D: I ended up having, it’s been several years ago. I had two weeks of just unable to cope with life in general. And at that particular time, I’m talking about things now that we’re not supposed to be talking about, I don’t suppose, cause it’s not dealing with Korea. But
0:04:00
I was watching MacNeil Lehrer News Hour, and they were telling a story, and I kept watching it. It was supper time, dinner to some people. But it’s supper time to me. And I was watching this program, and it ended up saying one word, the word lackay.
I: What?
D: Lackay. That’s where I was stationed with the 1st Infantry Division in the Iron Triangle.
0:04:30
And the story that they were relating to I had experienced.
I: In Viet Nam?
D: In Viet Nam. And the wife kept hollering it was supper time. And all I could do was, I finally got up and you know, I cried for two weeks. Could not cope. I called Sioux Falls here to a Viet Nam veterans help line, and all they could do was tell me not to commit suicide.
I: Um.
D: Things are different today, thank God.
0:05:00
The deal with things, and they work with you now, you know. But that was, when I say, you talk about flashbacks and, you know, that’s just one.
I: But still, the veterans from other recent wars, they still suffer from PTSD, and they commit suicide, right?
D: Yeah, 22 a day.
I: Yeah. It’s a miserable thing that U.S. has to be involved in every war in the world, you know.
D: Well. And I look at the fact that the
0:05:30
You know, the people committed suicide and then and the numbers today, a lot of those young people had been Guard members. They’d joined the National Guard and never expected really to ever have to go to, you know, to war.
I: Hm.
D: And my heart goes out to those kids. It really does because I know how naive and, you know, the fact that I didn’t know what was coming down or what’s happening.
0:06:00
I never had any AIT. They sent me from basic training to Viet Nam. That’s where I got my AIT. We’re not supposed to be talking about Viet Nam.
I: No. I went to Washington, DC and met with the Viet Nam Veterans Memorial Education Foundation.
D: Yeah.
I: And they are building a big memorial there.
D: Yes.
I: In the arcade.
D: Um hm.
I: The basement. And the Korean government has donated five million dollars.
D: Really.
0:06:30
I: Yeah. Korean soldiers were there. Korean military were there with the U.S, right?
D: Oh yeah.
I: Do you remember that?
D: I sure do, yeah. They were there.
I: Um hm.
D: You betcha, yeah.
I: See. That’s why it’s the legacy of the Korean War. You helped us in 1950.
D: Yeah.
I: We were there with you when you were there in 1960, right?
D: Oh yes, they were there, you know. They came in numbers later on. You know what I’m saying?
I: Um hm.
D: They were just a very few to start with.
0:07:00
I: Right.
D: And then they came in numbers.
I: Right.
D: Yeah.
I: Let’s go back to the person that you are going to introduce. Who is he, and please explain it.
D: Well, I didn’t expect that this was gonna happen, that I was supposed to deal with trying to, he told me I was gonna have to talk for him. And I apologize.
I: What’s his name?
D: Noble Nelson.
I: Could you spell it?
0:07:30
NOVLE
D: NOBLE Nelson, NELSON.
I: Um hm. And? Who is he?
D: Well, he’s a personal acquaintance friend of mine. I’ve known him all my life. But I really didn’t have a lot to do with him. And I’m just gonna say this. I’ve known him all my life, and I didn’t know he was a POW.
I: Hm.
D: He has never spoke about it.
0:08:00
This has all been done by his wife and niece. And his niece went to Korea as a civilian, you know, in later years. So, that’s why she got so interested in it. And I have another acquaintance, we’re jumping around the horn here. I have another acquaintance who has passed away who was a gunner in the Second World War
0:08:30
was a POW. And I had known him all my life. And until the last 10 years of his life, I didn’t know he was a POW.
I: So, tell me about him, Noble.
D: Yeah.
I: Is he a Korean War veteran?
D: Yes.
I: Do you know when?
D: Well, I’d have to get my glasses on to see this type of stuff, you know.
I: Tell me about what you know about him.
D: What I know about him, very private,
0:09:00
very reserved. He had troubles dealing with his life when he came back home. He was uncomfortable with the recognition that he received in his hometown.
I: Show his picture to the camera.
D: Well, let me find a better picture of him here, sir.
I: It’s okay, the first
0:09:30
page. With his wife.
D: Well, let me see here, yeah. There’s a better picture of that here somewhere. When they got married.
I: When did he marry, do you know?
D: Not without looking here. February of ’52.
I: He married in 1952?
D: Yes.
0:10:00
I: And he became a Korean War prisoner of war?
D: Yes.
I: So, I don’t know how, it was in the middle of the Korean War, 1952.
D: Yeah. And he had a 3 ½ old child.
I: Oh. So, he went to Korea late.
D: Well yeah. Let’s see here.
0:10:30
September of ’52, he must have got married in February of ’52 and was in Korea in September of ’52.
I: Uh huh.
D: And this article goes and shows when, you know, where he was sent.
I: Um hm.
D: I can’t pronounce
0:11:00
The word, you know. It’s kind of like me saying lackey, and you look at it, you don’t know what it is unless you know what this here is Inchon.
I: Inchon.
D: Inchon
I: Yeah.
D: Korea is where he went in that.
I: He was captured and in the prison?
D: Yes.
I: North Korea.
D: Yeah.
I: Yeah.
D: Front line, Warsaw Hill
0:11:30
is where he was captured.
I: Um hm.
D: And you know, most of his, you know, there was only three of them left
[END RECORDED MATERIAL]