 |
 |
|
|
For Press Inquiries Contact: Im.Media - Isabella Michon - 415/898-4838 Im.Media@comcast.net Rob Brown Communications - Rob Brown - 612-386-0509
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Minnesota World War II Triple Ace Launches New Biography at Fly-in Ken Dahlberg, an Army aviator who earned 15 victories while flying fighters during World War II, will participate in a “P-51 Fly-in” on Wednesday, January 30, from 10-11:30 a.m. at Flying Cloud Airport in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Signed copies of his new book, One Step Forward: The Life of Ken Dahlberg, will be available at the Fly-in. The restored P-51 fighter “Little Horse” will be on display. Dahlberg flew the original Little Horse in Europe during the war. The event will also feature Dahlberg talking about his experiences in flying P-51s and P-47s during the war in Europe. Dahlberg was shot down three times, escaped from behind enemy lines twice, and spent four months in a German POW camp. After the war, Dahlberg started a small electronics business that eventually grew into Miracle Ear, one of the world’s largest hearing aid companies. Ken, who is now 90, still flies his own jet, plays golf and runs a venture capital company. The stories he tells in One Step Forward with the help of writers Al Zdon and Warren Mack capture the drive — and the luck — behind this quintessentially American life. All proceeds from the book will go toward the Minnesotans’ Military Appreciation Fund. “Who the Hell is Ken Dahlberg?” President Nixon’s question during the Watergate era is answered with the new biography One Step Forward: The Life of Ken Dahlberg 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 follows the arc of the “Greatest Generation.” He milked cows as a kid, joined the Army Air Corps at 24, flew cover after the D-Day invasion of Normandy, and shot down 15 German planes to become one of America’s few triple aces. The tank driver who rescued him the second time reappeared in his life in most unusual circumstances 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.”) The title comes from when Ken 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. We were making $21 a month," Ken recalled. "Being unsatisfied with where I was at, I took one step forward." The corporal barked out again, "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 Ken.
A World War II ace who earned two Purple Hearts, the Silver Star, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star, and 15 air medals, Ken has been inducted into the Minnesota Business Hall of Fame and the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame. He was the Midwest Campaign Finance Chairman for the Committee to Re-elect the President in 1972. Twenty-five thousand dollars in cash handed to him for the campaign dragged him into the Watergate affair. Bob Woodward later commented that finding Ken’s check was a turning point in their Watergate investigation because it led to the discovery of how the Watergate burglars were financed through a money-laundering scheme. Ken was neither accused of nor implicated in any wrongdoing as a result of the scandal. Ken was featured in the aviation series Dogfights on The History Channel. His love for learning led him to spend years on the Augustana College board and the Air Force Academy Board of Visitors. His seventeen years on the board of Hamline University, Minnesota’s first institution of higher learning, culminated with an honorary doctorate. Presently, he serves on the boards of the Phoenix Seminary and the Museum of Flight in Seattle. In the summer, he lives in the Minneapolis area, and the rest of the year he resides in Carefree, Arizona and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He’s been married for over 60 years. ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Al Zdon wrote War Stories, Accounts of Minnesotans Who Defended Their Nation and his forthcoming book is about Minnesota pioneer editor and Civil War hero William Colvill. The editor of the Minnesota Legionnaire newspaper, Zdon serves on the Minnesota News Council. Warren Mack is an attorney with Fredrikson and Byron in Minneapolis. A longtime friend of Ken Dahlberg, he shares Ken’s love for history and aviation.
|
|
|
Copyright Carefree Capital 2007
|
