More About Kenneth H. Dahlberg

Ken Dahlberg with his P51 Mustang “Shillelaugh” during World War II.

The stories Kenneth H. Dahlberg, a St. Paul, Minn., native, tells in “One Step Forward: The Life of Ken Dahlberg” with the help of writers Al Zdon and Warren Mack, capture the drive — and the luck — behind this great American.

From a Wisconsin dairy farm to the battlefields of World War II, from starting a small post-war business to running an international company, Ken Dahlberg’s life is a steller example from the “Greatest Generation.” He milked cows as a kid, was drafted into the U.S. Army after high school, joined the Army Air Corps at age 24, and passed a college equivalency test so he could attend pilot officers’ school at Luke Field, Arizona. He became an instructor at Yuma Air Base, Arizona and taught Nationalist Chinese pilots the fine points of aerial gunnery.

During the war Dahlberg flew cover after the D-Day invasion of Normandy, and shot down 15 German planes flying the P-51 Mustang and P-47 Thunderbolt to become one of America’s few triple aces. In addition to earning 15 air medals, Dahlberg was awarded two Purple Hearts, the Silver Star, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Bronze Star.

Dahlberg was shot down three times and successfully evaded capture on two occasions before becoming a prisoner of war in 1945. After the war, Dahlberg commanded the 109th Fighter Squadron of the Minnesota Air National Guard until 1951.

The tank driver who rescued Dahlberg the second time he was shot down entered his life again during the Watergate years. (You may recall President Richard Nixon asking, “Who the hell is Ken Dahlberg?” in the movie “All the President’s Men.”)

Standing in front of Ken Dahlberg’s Cessna Citation CJ3 is (L/R) Warren Mack, longtime associate of Ken Dahlberg; Carl Hensel, Dahlberg’s grandson; Ken Dahlberg; and Bill Mavencamp of Wright Aero, Inc., pilot. Photo by Kendra Mack.

Dahlberg was serving as the Midwest Campaign Finance Chairman for the committee to re-elect President Richard Nixon in 1972 when he was handed $25,000 in cash, which he had made into a cashier’s check in his name because he did not want to carry that much cash around. That was enough to drag him into the Watergate scandal.

Ken Dahlberg flying right seat in his Cessna Citation CJ2. Photo by Kendra Mack.

Bob Woodward of the Washington Post later commented that finding Dahlberg’s check was a turning point in his Watergate investigation because it led to the discovery of how the Watergate burglars were financed through a money-laundering scheme. Dahlberg was neither accused of nor implicated in any wrongdoing as a result of the scandal.

The title of Dahlberg’s book “One Step Forward” comes from when he was in boot camp and his corporal asked for a volunteer to step forward.

“We were standing at attention and we were very uncomfortable in our ill-fitting uniforms,” recalled Dahlberg. “We were making $21 a month. Being unsatisfied with where I was at, I took one step forward.”

The corporal barked out, “Men, look at Private Dahlberg. He’s a leader, he’s one step ahead of all of you.”

“It was a step into the unknown, a response to curiosity, a response to be more confident. It was one of the great lessons in my life,” says Dahlberg.

Nowadays, Ken Dahlberg lives in the Minneapolis area in the summer, and the rest of the year in Carefree, Arizona and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He has been married for over 60 years.

Although recuperating from a recent fall, Dahlberg, now 90, plays golf, runs a venture capital company, and still flies his own Cessna Citation with MATA member, and former board member and president, Bill Mavencamp of Wright Aero, Inc., Maple Lake, Minn., and St. Cloud Aviation, St. Cloud, Minn. Mavencamp is also a military veteran, having served in Viet Nam and elsewhere as an aircraft technician.

Ken Dahlberg was featured in the aviation series “Dogfights” on The History Channel, and he serves on the boards of the Museum of Flight in Seattle, the Air Force Academy Board of Visitors, and Augustana College and Hamline University, Minnesota’s first institution of higher learning, which culminated with an honorary doctorate. In addition to being inducted into the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame, Dahlberg was inducted into the Minnesota Business Hall of Fame.

“One Step Forward: The Life of Ken Dahlberg” can be purchased at www.kendahlberg.com. All proceeds from the book go toward the Minnesotans’ Military Appreciation Fund.