Kenneth Harry Dahlberg (June 30, 1917 – October 4, 2011) was an American businessman and highly decorated

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

fighter ace. According to reporter

Bob Woodward Robert Upshur Woodward (born March 26, 1943) is an American investigative journalist. He started working for '' The Washington Post'' as a reporter in 1971 and now holds the title of associate editor. While a young reporter for ''The Washingt ...

, a check made out to Dahlberg was a key part in connecting the

Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's contin ...

to President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

's re-election campaign, though Dahlberg himself was not accused of any wrongdoing.

Early life

Born in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

, Dahlberg grew up on a farm near the village of Wilson, Wisconsin and attended classes in a

one-room school One-room schools, or schoolhouses, were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries, including Prussia, Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Spain. In most rural and s ...

for 11 years. During his senior year, he moved back to Saint Paul to live with an aunt in order to graduate from an accredited high school ( Harding High School). After graduation in 1935, he worked in the hotel business, starting as a dishwasher and working his way up to food and beverage manager for a hotel chain.

World War II

Dahlberg was drafted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

in 1941. He eventually became an aviation cadet in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

(USAAF), where one of his instructors was future Senator Barry Goldwater. After training, Dahlberg flew the

P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bom ...

and P-51 Mustang with the USAAF 353rd Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group Ninth Air Force in Europe. A fighter ace, he was credited with 15 aerial victories. He was shot down three times. The first time, he bailed out near Paris and was sheltered by the French Resistance. Disguised as a woman, he rode a bicycle to Allied lines away. He received numerous awards and decorations, including the Distinguished Service Cross (United States), Distinguished Service Cross for leading a flight of 16 P-47 Thunderbolts (354th) against an attack of 70 German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters on December 19, 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge. Dahlberg accounted for four enemy planes that day, but was himself shot down. He was rescued by Martin Dardis and four other American soldiers. Many years after the war, both Dardis and Dahlberg became key figures in the

. On February 14, 1945, Dahlberg was downed for the third and final time, near Bitburg, and became a prisoner of war for the final three months of the war. Continuing his military service after the war, Dahlberg served with the Minnesota Air National Guard until 1951.

Business career

Dahlberg went to work for Telex Communications, Telex, a company that made hearing aids. In 1948, he founded Dahlberg Electronics, a subsidiary of which is the Miracle-Ear hearing aids manufacturer. By 1959, Miracle-Ear had evolved into a subsidiary of Dahlberg, Inc., with $100 million in annual revenue. A national advertising campaign that Dahlberg, Inc. ran from 1988 until mid-1993 was subject to charges of false advertising by the Federal Trade Commission, which were settled in 1995 when the company agreed to pay a $2.75 million civil penalty. In the summer of 1993, Dahlberg sold his company to Bausch & Lomb for $139 million. In 1995, Dahlberg started the venture capital firm Carefree Capital, whose investments include the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant chain. As of 2010, Dahlberg lived in Carefree, Arizona, and still piloted a Cessna Citation jet.

Watergate

During the Watergate investigation by ''Washington Post'' reporters

and Carl Bernstein, chronicled in ''All the President's Men'', Bernstein traveled to Miami, Florida, Miami to see Martin Dardis, the head investigator for Miami-Dade County, Florida, Dade County District Attorney Richard E. Gerstein. Since most of the Watergate burglars were from Miami, the district attorney's office had launched an investigation. Dardis showed Bernstein a photostatic copy of a cashier's check for $25,000 that had been deposited into the bank account of a real estate firm owned by Bernard Barker, one of the Watergate burglars. The check was drawn on a Boca Raton, Florida, bank and was made out to Kenneth H. Dahlberg. Bernstein telephoned this information to Woodward, who was back at ''The Washington Post'' in Washington, D.C. Woodward telephoned Dahlberg at home. At first, Dahlberg did not believe he was actually a reporter. He later called Woodward back and explained that his neighbor, Virginia Piper kidnapping, Virginia Piper, had been recently kidnapped, and it was an upsetting experience. Dahlberg told Woodward he had the check made out to himself while he was in Florida on business and did not want to carry that much cash around. Dahlberg could not explain how the check got into Barker's bank account, but said it was given to either the Committee for the Re-Election of the President or Maurice Stans. Dahlberg was the Midwest finance chairman for the Committee to Re-elect the President during President of the United States, President Richard M. Nixon's 1972 United States presidential election, 1972 campaign. In 1968, he was the finance chairman for Clark MacGregor's unsuccessful United States Senate, Senate campaign in Minnesota. MacGregor was later appointed the head of the Committee to Re-elect the President in 1972, after former attorney general John N. Mitchell, John Mitchell had resigned. It was later learned that the $25,000 came from Dwayne Andreas, chief executive officer of Archer Daniels Midland, as an anonymous donation to the Nixon campaign. Woodward has said that finding Dahlberg's check was a turning point in their investigation because it led to the discovery of how the Watergate burglars were financed through a money laundering scheme. Dahlberg was never charged with any wrongdoing in the Watergate scandal.

Death

Dahlberg died on October 4, 2011, at his Deephaven, Minnesota home. He was survived by his wife of 64 years, Betty Jayne (née Segerstrom), two daughters, and a son. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Honors

In 1967, Dahlberg was notified by the United States Department of Defense, Department of Defense that he had earned the Distinguished Service Cross (United States), Distinguished Service Cross in 1945, but it had not been presented to him at that time because he was a prisoner of war. Dahlberg also earned the Silver Star, two Distinguished Flying Cross (United States), Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Purple Hearts, 16 Air Medals, and the French Croix de Guerre. In 1970, President Richard Nixon appointed Dahlberg to the board of visitors of the United States Air Force Academy. He also served as a trustee of Hamline University. In 1996, Dahlberg was inducted into the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame at the Norsk Høstfest in Minot, North Dakota. He was inducted into the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame in 2009. In July 2007, he was featured in the aviation series ''Dogfights (TV series), Dogfights'' on History (U.S. TV channel), The History Channel, in the final segment of the episode on the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, P-47 Thunderbolt. In 2012, the Kenneth H. Dahlberg Memorial to Service was built and constructed at Hamline University, where Dahlberg served as a life trustee and played an integral part in its construction.

Military awards

Croix de guerre 1939-1945 with palm (France) - ribbon bar

Croix de Guerre with Palm (France)

Distinguished Service Cross citation

:Dahlberg, Kenneth :Captain, U.S Army Air Corps :353rd Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force :Date of Action: December 19, 1944 :Headquarters, U.S. Strategic Forces in Europe: General Orders No. 55 (1945) :Citation:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Captain (Air Corps) Kenneth H. Dahlberg, United States Army Air Forces, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Pilot of a P-47 Fighter Airplane in the 353d Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, NINTH Air Force, in aerial combat against enemy forces on 19 December 1944, over Germany. On that date, Captain Dahlberg was serving as flight commander during an armed reconnaissance mission near Trier, Germany, when a formation of more than ninety enemy fighters was observed. Despite the enemy's vast numerical superiority, Captain Dahlberg led his eight-ship flight in a direct attack upon the hostile force. Although his wingman was forced to break combat, Captain Dahlberg relentlessly attacked the enemy, destroying four of their aircraft and damaging another. The extraordinary heroism and determination of this officer to destroy the enemy are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the 9th Air Force, and the United States Army Air Forces.

References

External links

Minnesota American Legion
– article on Ken Dahlberg

– Kenneth H. Dahlberg
Photo of Dahlberg standing next to P-51 Mustang 'Little Horse'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dahlberg, Kenneth H. 1917 births 2011 deaths American World War II flying aces Aviators from Minnesota Members of the Committee for the Re-Election of the President Businesspeople from Saint Paul, Minnesota People from St. Croix County, Wisconsin Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Silver Star Shot-down aviators United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Germany American prisoners of war in World War II Minnesota Republicans People from Carefree, Arizona People from Deephaven, Minnesota Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) American people of Norwegian descent Burials at Arlington National Cemetery