Ben Dregseth

Irving ‘Ben’ Dregseth was born on February 4, 1918 in Baltic, South Dakota, and afterwards moved to Nevis, Minnesota where he grew up and would later attend high school. Following  his graduation from Nevis High School, Dregseth attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota until January 1941, when he was drafted into the United States Army. Dregseth served with the 45^th Infantry Division as a 1^st Lieutenant, and participated in the Italian Campaign, battling against the enemy and the elements. In October of 1944, while serving in France, Dregseth was seriously wounded by artillery shrapnel and crawled down a hill until he was finally picked up by medics. He was later informed that if he had crawled down the same hill 15 minutes later he would not have survived. Dregseth returned to the United States on Christmas Day, 1944 and stayed with friends until he was able to return to Minnesota. While Dregseth was considered a hero by many who fought with him, he did not receive his official medals until August 15, 2000—56 years after his tour of duty ended. He received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Presidential Unit Emblem, the Meritorious Unit Emblem, the American Campaign Medal, the European-African- Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Honorable Service Lapel Button. Dregseth passed away in Fargo, North Dakota on October 7, 2002. This collection includes a 15 page autobiography Dregseth wrote during the summer of 2000, which discusses his military experiences during WWII, beginning with hearing the news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The autobiography channels his journey from Minnesota to various army bases before he was officially sent to the European and North African theater. Dregseth’s autobiography also includes a 2 page recollection of his ‘close calls’ that he experienced while he was in service. This particular addition to the autobiography was written at the suggestion of his family members. The collection also includes the photocopied article regarding Dregseth’s service awards as printed on August 15 2000 in the Fargo Forum. The final piece of the collection consists of Dregseth’s obituary and his funeral pamphlet. This accession to the Carleton Elliott Simensen Military Heritage Collection was donated by Dr. Kim Porter, UND History Department on May 1, 2011. (Acc. #2012-3151)