ROCHELLE — Rochelle’s Dale Galland served in the United States Army 1965-1967.
Galland grew up in the small town of Mentor, Minnesota on a modest, 160-acre farm with cows, pigs and chickens. He was 20 years old when he was drafted into the Army. He was first sent to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for basic training for 10 weeks before he was sent to Fort Belvoir in Virginia for 10 weeks. From there he went to Oakland, California and shipped out by air to Korea, where he was stationed through the end of his service. Galland worked at a supply point just outside of Seoul as a stock control clerk.
“Getting drafted was a good thing for me,” Galland said. “It gave me a good experience and got me away from home. I had a tough time leaving home. My service broke me away from home and taught me how to obey orders no matter what they were. And I knew what was going on with Vietnam at the time. I wasn't going to be surprised if I was sent there. And I would have gone. I'm not better than anyone else. That would have been scary. I'm very glad I didn't have to go to Vietnam. I was very honored to serve. All of my mom's brothers served.”
After growing up in rural Minnesota, Galland marveled at Korea and its differences from home. In his off time, he saw the sights in Seoul, the DMZ and North Korea.
Galland enjoyed the camaraderie he found with the people he served with. He got valuable advice from his uncles prior to going into the Army that helped him along the way.
“One told me, 'The Army will be what you make it. If you listen and obey everything, it will be good. If you start arguing, you'll be in trouble,'” Galland said, “I got along well with everyone and made it. And I had a good job. If I could have kept that job I would have stayed in. But I knew if I stayed I would be headed to Vietnam.”
After leaving the service, Galland went home to Minnesota to help his father with planting crops in the spring. He had an aunt and uncle that lived in Rochelle and he’d stopped there before and saw the amount of jobs available. After finishing planting, Galland came to Rochelle and got a job at Morgan Dye.
After other work stops in Rockford and DeKalb, Galland came back to work in Rochelle at Eaton Corporation, where he met his wife. He then went to work at Del Monte for 22.5 years and later worked at Silgan Containers for 13 years after it bought the building. He then retired. Galland is now 80 years old.
Galland recently returned from a VetsRoll bus trip to Washington, DC with 220 other veterans from the area. After leaving from South Beloit, the group traveled to Dayton, Ohio to the Air Force Museum before a stop in Cambridge, Pennsylvania.
“We had dinner in a 160-year-old church,” Galland said. “They let the kids out of school and they stood on both sides of the road waving flags. That was very touching. We stayed there a night and left for Washington, DC.”
Galland’s VetsRoll group visited the sights of DC including the World War II monument, Arlington National Cemetery for the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Marine Memorial, the Vietnam Wall, and the Korean Wall. The biggest surprise for him came at the trip’s farewell dinner.
“They had a mail call and brought me a big folder of letters and thank you cards and pictures that kids drew me,” Galland said. “There were letters from my family and friends and members of my church and pictures drawn by school kids here.”
Upon returning home, every overpass in the Rockford area was lined with fire trucks with their lights on to welcome the service members home. Galland called the trip a “bucket list item” as he reflected on his service 60 years from the date of starting it.
“I had a great family life growing up,” Galland said. “I believe the things that kept me out of Vietnam were my mom's prayers and God's grace. God has been good to me. It was an honor for me to serve. I'm very patriotic. It was a good experience for me. It helped me grow up.”
Honoring Our American Hero is a series that will print twice a month in the News-Leader. If you know an American Hero you would like to have featured, contact Jeff Helfrich at jhelfrich@rochellenews-leader.com or call 815-561-2151.
