John E. Dahlquist

John E. Dahlquist
General John E. Dahlquist
Buried	Arlington National Cemetery
Allegiance	United States of America
Service / branch	United States Army
Years of service	191?-1956
Rank	General
Commands	Army Field Forces U.S. Continental Army Command 4th Army V Corps 70th Infantry Division 36th Infantry Division 1st Infantry Division
Battles / wars	World War II
Awards	Distinguished Service Cross Silver Star Legion of Merit Silver Star

General John Ernest Dahlquist was a U.S. Army general and World War II division commander. In the course of his career, he commanded three different army divisions, commanded at the corps and field army level, and rose to 4 star rank.

Biography

Dahlquist was born on March 12, 1896 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He graduated from the University of Minnesota and served in the occupation forces in Germany after World War I. He received a direct commission in 1917. He served as an instructor at the U.S. Army Infantry School from 1924 to 1928. After graduating from Command and General Staff School in 1931, he was assigned to the Philippines. From 1935 to 1936 he was a student at the Army War College, serving on the Army General Staff, Personnel Division after graduation.

With America's entry into World War II, Dahlquist was assigned as Assistant Chief of Staff, European Theater of Operations in 1942, and later that year became Assistant Division Commander of the 76th Infantry Division. In 1943 he became the first commander of the 70th Infantry Division, and the next year he took command of the 36th Infantry Division. During his command, the 36th Infantry Division captured Hermann Göring, and Dahlquist was the first person to interrogate him.

Following the war, Dahlquist returned stateside, serving in various administrative and personnel jobs, and took command of his third division, the 1st Infantry Division in 1949. This was followed by command of V Corps (1952-1953) and Fourth United States Army (1953). He then served as Chief of Army Field Forces from 1953 to 1955, during which he was promoted to 4 star rank on August 18, 1954. He finished his career as Commander-in-Chief, Continental Army Command, retiring in 1956. He died on June 30, 1975 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Marriage

Dahlquist was married to Ruth D. Dahlquist, who coincidentally was born 17 days after him, and died 17 days after him. She was buried next to him in Arlington.

Awards and decorations

Dahlquist's awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Cross, the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, and the Bronze Star . In 1954 he received an honorary Master of Arts from the University of Minnesota.

References

• Arlingtoncemetery.net entry
• PBS.org entry