World War II Honoree

Edward C. Dahlgren

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Caribou, Maine

Honored By

Ralph Bozorth

AWARDED THE CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR. SECOND LIEUTENANT. U.S. ARMY, COMPANY E, 142ND INFANTRY, 36TH INFANTRY DIVISION. PLACE AND DATE: OBERHOFFEN, FRANCE ON FEBRUARY 11, 1945. ENTERED SERVICE AT PORTLAND, MAINE SEPTEMBER 10, 1945. BIRTHPLACE: PERHAM, MAINE. CITATION: 'HE LED THE 3RD PLATOON TO THE RESCUE OF A SIMILAR UNIT WHICH HAD BEEN SURROUNDED IN AN ENEMY COUNTERATTACK AT OBERHOFFEN, FRANCE. 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 SUBMACHINE GUN FIRE; KILLING 6, 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 2 PLATOONS HAD BEEN REORGANIZED, SERGEANT 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 8 MEN WHO HELD THE STRONG POINT IMMEDIATELY SURRENDERED. AS SERGEANT DAHLGREN STARTED TOWARD THE NEXT HOUSE, HOSTILE MACHINE GUN FIRE DROVE HIM TO COVER. HE SECURED RIFLE GRENADES, STEPPED TO AN EXPOSED POSITION AND CALMLY LAUNCHED HIS MISSILES FROM A DIFFICULT ANGLE UNTIL HE HAD DESTROYED THE MACHINE GUN AND KILLED ITS 2 OPERATORS. HE MOVED TO THE REAR OF THE HOUSE AND SUDDENLY CAME UNDER THE FIRE OF A MACHINE GUN PLACED IN A BARN. THROWING A GRENADE INTO THE STRUCTURE, HE RUSHED THE POSITION, FIRING HIS WEAPON AS HE RAN. WITHIN, HE OVERWHELMED 5 GERMANS. AFTER REORGANIZING HIS UNIT HE ADVANCED TO CLEAR HOSTILE RIFLEMEN FROM THE BUILDING WHERE HE HAD DESTROYED THE MACHINE GUN. 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. SERGEANT 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. THE BOLD LEADERSHIP AND MAGNIFICENT COURAGE DISPLAYED BY SERGEANT DAHLGREN IN HIS HEROIC ATTACKS WERE IN A LARGE MEASURE RESPONSIBLE FOR REPULSING AN ENEMY COUNTERATTACK AND SAVING AN AMERICAN PLATOON FROM GREAT DANGER'.