SGT Lester E. (Les) Dake was born on February 19, 1919 in Mayville, Wisconsin. A 1937 Graduate of Dorchester High School, Les worked at various jobs until October 15, 1940 when he enlisted in B-Battery, 121st Field Artillery Regiment in the 32nd Division, Wisconsin Army National Guard.
He trained in Camp Livingston, LA and attended additional training at the Edgewood Arsenal, MD and also Fort Sill, OK. He joined the 76th Division and was assigned to B-Battery, 901st FA Bn at Camp McCoy, WI. Les went overseas in November of 1944 to the European Theater. He was awarded 3 Battle Stars, Battle of the Bulge, Rhineland and Central Europe. He returned to the US on August 21st, 1945 aboard the Queen Mary with the rest of the 30th Division (my grandfather included!) where Les was assigned to the 118th FA Bn. SGT Dake was Honorably Discharged on October 26, 1945.
On November 6, 1948 in Dubuque, Iowa he was married the to Merle E. Thompson. Les worked at the former Harvey Company until 1966 and then moved to Belvidere, IL where he worked at the Chrysler Corporation until his retirement in 1984. He enjoyed hunting, fishing and camping.
Below are stories SGT Dake told his daughter about the war:
- “Coming back from patrol the driver of the jeep he was in stopped and asked if he could hit the deer that they saw. He didn't see the second behind the first one and got 2 for one shot. All patrol members started asking just how good of a shot he was. The EOD had just cleared a minefield and stacked the explosive for later disposal. The Lt. with dad asked if he could hit those mines at 250 meters. Dad started to raise his gun when the Lt. said not with your gun. Use the gun from that dead German. So he picked up a German 8mm Mauser and shot the mines. The German artillery always sent 3 rounds at the top of the hour and it was getting close to that time so when the mines exploded the 1st Sgt which no one liked thought it was an artillery attack and dove out of his jeep into a January mud puddle. He wanted to know who shot those mines so he would be peeling potatoes for the rest of the war. No one ever told him.”
- “Another story he told of coming upon a castle about half way between the German border and Berlin. When they stopped for the night part of their unit was to set up their camp on the grounds with orders not to disturb the residents unless necessary. They were met by the servants of the castle with a couple bottles of wine and happy faces. They had run out of food and were hiding in the wine cellar as much as possible. When the Americans came they shared wine with the troops in order to feed themselves.”
- “The last story I recall him telling was of a time he had guard duty somewhere in Belgium and some distance away was a German camp. Each morning one German fellow would walk to a point outside a building and relieve himself. This would go on each day around the same time. Dad wanted to have a little fun at the guys expense so one day when he walked out there and set his gun against the wall he was greeted with a surprise. While he was relieving himself dad let a few rounds go near his feet. The fellow was scared enough that he left his gun behind but never again returned to that area to take care of relieving himself.”
SGT Dake passed away on April 18, 2012 in Medford, WI.
This uniform comes complete, unaltered, and untouched. It still has his ARNG collar brass and DUIs. The shirt is outfitted with green combat leader stripes.
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