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Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant (then Sergeant), U.S. Army,
Company E, 142d Infantry, 36th Infantry Division. Place and date: Oberhoffen,
France, 11 February 1945. Entered service at: Portland, Maine. Birth: Perham,
Maine. G.O. No.: 77, 10 September 1945. Citation: He led the 3d 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, 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 8 men who held the strongpoint immediately surrendered.
As Sgt. Dahlgren started toward the next house, hostile machinegun 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 machinegun and killed its 2 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 5 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. Sgt. 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 Sgt. Dahlgren in his heroic attacks were in a large
measure responsible for repulsing an enemy counterattack and saving an
American platoon from great danger.
This data was extracted from the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, U.S. Senate, Medal of Honor Recipients: 1863-1973 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1973)
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