Dale Bergeson and Donald Bergeson honored at The Highground

COLFAX  — Major Dale R. Bergeson of Colfax and his late father, Staff Sergeant Donald N. Bergeson, were honored with stone placement ceremonies at The Highground Veterans Memorial Park near Neillsville July 8.

The Highground is a 155-acre manned veterans memorial park that pays tribute to the dead and honors the survivors, their service and their sacrifices.

Stone placements are scheduled each month April through October.

Incorporated in 1984 as the Wisconsin Vietnam Veterans Memorial Project, Inc., this grass-roots effort continues because of the dedication of countless individuals, families, organizations and businesses who have given their time, talents and financial resources.

Staff Sergeant Donald N. Bergeson’s placement ceremony was sponsored by family members Dale Bergeson and Diane Schindler and their families.

Here is a tribute to Staff Sergeant Bergeson written by his family members:

“Isn’t that about the prettiest sight you’ve ever seen?” As kids we naturally were looking for something spectacular, but our dad was gazing at the city lights as we topped the hill. We were told that when he was in the service, they couldn’t have any type of light at night to let the enemy know where they were. That included no smoking and only sea rations to eat.

Our dad, Donald N. Bergeson, was born on January 5, 1917, and he died October 16, 1996, at the age of 79.

Dad was drafted and served in the Army during World War II when it was raging on two fronts, the European and Pacific theaters. Sgt. Bergeson is a veteran of the campaigns of Guadalcanal and New Georgia in the Solomons, where the 25th infantry division played a large part in the success of the first land offensive against the Japanese in the South Pacific. He was wounded in action, received the Purple Heart, then returned to duty. Donald was given an honorable discharge after five years.

Dad worked at the powerhouse when he returned to Colfax. During this time, he met and married Dawn Wiseman on March 15, 1947. They had four children: Donna Faye, Diane, Duron and Dale.

A few years later, he took over the family farm. They continued  raising Guernsey cattle and involved his children in showing cattle at local fairs, like he had done growing up.

He served on many local boards, including the Colfax Creamery, the Colfax Farmers Union, and Peoples State Bank. He was also active in the VFW.

Dad was a quiet man and chose his words carefully. He always tried to be fair and to never cheat anyone. He would always say, “you may not like someone, but you can always find at least one good thing in everyone.”

At night, Dad would sit out on the lawn with the family and would say, “my kids, my kids. I never thought I would be able to enjoy this.” Over the years, they were blessed with 13 grandchildren.

The only time Dad ever questioned his faith in God was after the deaths of two grandchildren, Brent C. Bergeson, 10 years old, and Abigail D. Bergeson, 6 years old.

Upon retiring, they built a home in the country. As we always say, “a farmer is always a farmer.” He had a garden that grew larger every year. He made daily trips to family and friends to share his produce. Dad was always busy. He took an interest in golfing and bowling. He even used his golf cart for gardening.

Growing up, Dad would take us on trips to visit his Army buddies in Sparta and Deadwood, South Dakota. Looking back, we realized those were the only places he wanted to go.

As the years passed, Dad was having mini strokes and nightmares. When we got him to wake up completely, he thought he was back in a war zone. His daughter, Diane, was trying to wake him from one of these nightmares, and he looked at her and said, “boy, I’m sure glad you weren’t on the hill with me. Not too many made it back.” We realized that was the reason he never talked about the war to Mom or his kids. It would be bad to live through it once, but not again and again.

Dad was very patriotic. We even made poppies to sell. We learned to respect the flag, our dad, and all who served.

Let us remember those who have gone before us. And let us thank God that such men lived.

Major Bergeson

Major Dale Bergeson’s placement ceremony was sponsored by family members Ginger, Bronson, Megan Tab, Annie, Morgan, Liam and Gwen — “In appreciation of your service to our Nation and for being a great Husband, Father and Papa. For Christmas we have purchased an Honor Stone in the Persian Golf Tribute at The Highground in your honor.”

The stone was engraved, Maj. Dale Bergeson * Desert Storm * 13 EVC * Husband * Father * Papa.

Here is Major Bergeson’s biography:

Dale R. Bergeson was born July 28, 1952, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. His parents were Donald and Dawn Bergeson. He has two older sisters, Donna Faye and Diane, and one older brother, Duron.

He attended the rural Running Valley School until 6th grade and graduated in 1970. He attended vocational school for a semester, then the national school of Heavy Operating Engineers in North Carolina and was the honor graduate.

In 1971, the Vietnam war was ongoing, and he received his draft number. When he signed up, it was under the civilian acquired skills program, and he was to go directly to the engineers. However, after basic training at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where he won the company physical fitness award, he was surprised to learn that he was being sent to Fort Sam Houston to train to be a combat medic. He was later transferred to Germany to work as a medic and engineer.

He served two years, then attended college at UW-River Falls while working in a nursing home. A year later, he was accepted in the Physician’s Assistant program in Marshfield, Wisconsin, graduating in 1976. He then received his Bachelor of Science and Master’s degrees, while also working as a full-time PA-C.

While working at the nursing home, he met Ginger, now his wife. Together they had four children, Bronson, Megan, Tabatha and Abigail. In 1993, Abigail died in a car accident. She was 6 years old. As the years went by, we have been blessed with three wonderful grandchildren, Morgan, Liam and Gwen.

Dale remained a soldier in the Wisconsin Army National Guard, retiring in December 1999. He felt fortunate to have many deployments to Central South America. In 1990, he was activated and sent to Desert Storm. He worked with the Infantry Battalion and the 13th evacuation hospital.

His wife, Ginger, was left with their four children and Stephen Meyer, an exchange student from Germany. Also, a house, a herd of buffalo, and a full-time job as an RN in the emergency department. Our children grew up knowing that teamwork was very important, and they all worked hard, even poor Stephen.

A local minister, Tom Countryman from the Methodist Church in Colfax, which we were not members at that time, encouraged his congregation in bringing my family supper every Monday night until I returned. People signed up for the Mondays they were bringing supper. Ginger felt like that was her one night off. Ginger and the children knew one night a week they would eat well. Both of us cannot tell you how appreciative we were for this gift.

It was more than three months before mail was delivered due to the desert and the unit’s location near the Iraq border. Once that became possible, updates from Ginger were always positive. She did mention, when the news came on with coverage of the war, our youngest daughter, Abigail, would cover her head with a pillow to avoid hearing or seeing the reports.

Bravery doesn’t mean you’re not scared. It means you go anyway.