From the Civil War to the modern era, Wisconsin has a long legacy of sacrifice and service to the United States of America. Northern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Spooner is honored to be the final resting place for many brave veterans who called Wisconsin home. Some, including those featured below, have their stories, artifacts and oral histories preserved for posterity in the archives of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum.
Fredrick A. Dahle
- Rank & Branch: TEC4 US ARMY
- War Period: WORLD WAR II
- Date of Birth: 08/04/1926
- Date of Death: 04/08/2003
- Buried at: SECTION 103 ROW D SITE 8
Fredrick Alimont Dahle was born on August 4, 1926 in Rice Lake, Wisconsin. He was living in nearby Haugen, Wisconsin when he was drafted into the US Army on January 23, 1945.
He deployed to the Pacific Theater in July 1945, arriving after V-J Day. He served in the occupation forces in Japan as an automotive mechanic with the 27th Quartermaster Company. He returned to the States in September 1946 and was discharged on November 6, 1946. Afterwards, he settled in Haugen. He passed away on April 8, 2003, and is buried at the Northern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery.
Bertha Christensen
- Rank & Branch: PFC US ARMY
- War Period: WORLD WAR II
- Date of Birth: 03/18/1923
- Date of Death: 03/10/2020
- Buried at: SECTION AA SITE 86
Bertha A. Smith (1923-2020) was born in Hayward, Wisconsin. She grew up in Round Lake Village and graduated from Kinnamon School in 1938 and Flandreau Indian School in 1942. Following her education, she returned home to Hayward and worked as a nurse’s aide at the Hayward Hospital and then later at the Milwaukee County Hospital.
In 1944, she decided to enlist in the military where she served as a clerk and nurse’s aide in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) with the 211th Army Air Force Base Unit during World War II. In 1945 while stationed at the Army Air Base in Pueblo, CO she received orders to be deployed to the South Pacific. However, while loading on the platform for her deployment, word was received that the war had ended. Following service, she returned home briefly, attended secretarial school at Spencerian College in Milwaukee and then on to Chicago where she worked briefly for the Navy Department and then 40 years at Avon.
Listen to her story in her own words through her oral history.
Richard I. Smith
- Rank & Branch: US NAVY | SGT US ARMY
- War Period: WORLD WAR II | KOREA
- Date of Birth: 05/10/1926
- Date of Death: 09/05/2020
- Buried at: SECTION AD SITE 101
Richard I. Smith was born in Sawyer County, Wisconsin in 1926. He graduated from Flandreau Indian School in South Dakota where he was on the Varsity Boxing Team. He served in the United States Navy as a Petty Officer 2nd Class from 1943 to 1946 on Landing Ship Tank 477 (LST-477). During his service in World War II at Iwo Jima, Smith survived a kamikaze attack and saw the flag-raising on Mount Suribachi through binoculars. He fought in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands Campaign and witnessed the aftermath of the Battle of Tarawa on D-Day plus 1 day.
While in the Navy, he continued to participate in boxing. Smith later reenlisted for service in the United States Army from 1948 to 1953 with the 101st Airborne Division and spent his military service stateside during the Korean War. Following service, he moved to Chicago, IL and was employed as an auto mechanic before moving back to Lac Courte Oreilles where he worked various jobs with the DNR, LCO School and he also started a boxing club. He passed away in Duluth, Minnesota 9/5/2020.
Listen to Richard’s story through his recorded oral history.
Densil W. Anderson
- Rank & Branch: TEC5 US ARMY | PFC US ARMY
- War Period: KOREA
- Date of Birth: 02/07/1928
- Date of Death: 07/15/2020
- Buried at: SECTION 203 ROW B SITE 4
Densil Wayne Anderson was born on February 7, 1928 in LaMoure County, North Dakota. His family moved to Eau Claire, Wisconsin shortly after and he grew up there. He was living in Eau Claire when he joined the US Army on August 26, 1946.
He deployed to the Pacific Theater in November 1946 and served in the Army of Occupation in Japan. His discharge form lists his unit as Headquarters Detachment, I Corps and his MOS as Clerk General. He returned to the States in December 1947 and was discharged on December 11, 1947. He also served briefly from October to December 1950 before being discharged due to physical disqualification. He settled in the Eau Claire area and worked as a barber, a butcher, and construction worker. He passed away on July 15, 2020.
Roger D. Hollingstad
- Rank & Branch: A2C US AIR FORCE
- War Period: KOREA
- Date of Birth: 09/08/1932
- Date of Death: 12/15/2022
- Buried at: SECTION AD SITE 78
Roger Hallingstad, a Sparta, Wisconsin, native, was born in 1932. He served in the Air Force as an aviation mechanic in Japan during the Korean War and in French Indochina (now Vietnam) at the end for the First Indochina War. He enlisted in the Wisconsin National Guard in 1948 and the U.S. Air Force in 1951. He trained at Mac Dill Air Dorce Base and worked at Chanute Field in Illinois. He volunteered for overseas duty in Japan and ended up in Tachikawa Air Force Base in Japan supervising Japanese aviation mechanics.
In January 1954, he was relocated to French Indochina at the Do Son Air Base near Hai Phong. Returning to the United States, he used the GI Bill to start college at the University of Wisconsin and worked for Remington Rand and Baraboo Sysco Foods. He died in 2022 in Madison, Wisconsin, and is buried at Northern Wisconsin Veterans Cemetery in Spooner, Wisconsin.
