Military fiction author Dale Dallman chats with me today about his new historical memoir, Letters from a Warrior, P.S. Mom, I Love You.
During his virtual book tour, Dale will be giving away a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit his other tour stops and enter there, too!
Bio:
Dale E. Dallman, Senior was born on a hot dry day in Britton, South Dakota, just off the Sisseton Indian Reservation, east of Lake Tewaukon, because that was the closest hospital His relatives all worked for the Railroad and/or farmed near Fort Ransom, Cayuga, and Rutland, North Dakota. When his father got the chance to quit farming and transfer to the Railroad they moved to Minot, North Dakota where Dale attended grade school at Sunnyside and graduated high school at Minot High.
After Dale and a few of his friends got themselves into trouble towards the end of their senior year, a nice judge “suggested” that he and several of his acquaintances join the United States Marine Corps. The formation of the “NODAK PLATOON” made the timeline fit. The Marines took him to San Diego, CA, Hawaii, Asia and back to San Fransisco, CA. He grew up fast in the Marines. One of his buddies stuck with him after they were discharged and the two followed each other off and on through life.
His first real job after the service was in Billings, Montana with Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co as a road salesman. This led to other road salesman positions with the American Greetings Company and Bristol Myers Drug Company. He ventured into real estate, casinos, auto sales, RV sales, and became a deputy sheriff, which took him to California, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, Arizona, Virginia, Germany, and Colorado to name a few.
Today, Mr. Dallman lives in the south with his wife Cassandra Dallman, a professional photographer and singer out of Atlanta, Georgia. He enjoys and continues to take great pride in his children and their offspring.
Welcome, Dale. Please tell us about your current release.
Letters from a Warrior, P.S. Mom, I Love You is a captivating true story full of adventure and self-discovery. It is portrayed with a relentless wit that offers an intimate glimpse into the world of the US Marine Corps Boot Camp in 1960. This is all done through the eyes of a young man who trades his small-town roots in Minot, North Dakota for the thrilling and challenging life of a Marine.
Through a series of unapologetically honest and unintentionally humorous letters to his mother, the author shares his unvarnished experiences as a naive 18-year-old navigating the tribulations of boot camp. With the specter of his seemingly menacing drill instructors looming large, this young man’s quest for a life beyond his hometown quickly becomes a rollercoaster of exhilaration, fear, and personal growth.
Witness the author’s transformation from a small-town boy to a dedicated warrior as he overcomes adversity and learns invaluable lessons about courage, resilience, and the true meaning of strength. From his first day at the MCRD to his thrilling new beginning in Hawaii, this unforgettable memoir stands as a testament to the power of determination and the indomitable spirit of youth.
What inspired you to write this book?
Inspire!-WOW, what a word! GOD inspires me! The Sun in the morning, the moon at night! The smell of the snow, the breath of a woman! The very fact that I woke up this morning! I don’t have standard boiler plate answers!
I am inspired to write by my fellow Marines. Each is a brother, no color other than green! They encourage me to tell the real stories! No sugar coating, not hiding the bad stuff . I belong to several military sites. I put tidbits out for response! They come back with praise, arguments, laughs, corrections, but they are always at my side! Now I have to admit that the language from the US Marines is colorful, and I try to clean it up, but it still falls on my Publisher, Traci Wooden to monitor!
I was inspired to write the new book – Letters from a Warrior, P.S. Mom, I Love You -by two buddy’s who were in the Marines with me. We had death bed conversations! I sat there with one as he drew his last breath. HIs very last words were “Dallman, you got to write this book”, he said “I won’t get to read it, I will be dead, but for our kids and grandkids.” I was also inspired by a find I made in Minot, North Dakota! The family home was destroyed by the flood of 2011. It was actually swept away by the river. I returned to the land and found a trunk about fourteen feet up in a tree. The faded letters that I had sent home from Marine Corps bootcamp and shipping out were in there! I used each letter to set up a chapter! My brother told me that my mom would gather up my brothers and the neighbors and read each letter to them. That is what inspired me to dedicate the book to EVERY mom, who got a flag back instead of their son or daughter! That is inspiration!
I am inspired by the history of the old west! I was friends with Harry Jackson, the artist from Cody, Wyoming. I haunted the museums in Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota. I spent hours in the L.A. Huffman Gallery in Miles City, Montana. I used the experiences to write my next book, The White Buffalo and used the towns as the names of the characters. I got intimate with the real Montana, Wyoming. Nothing is more inspiring than sitting on a Mountain, Crik running past your feet, favorite dog, fishing pole with no bait on it! I wrote a good portion of The White Buffalo in a cabin located in the Big Horn Mountains close to Lodge Grass, Montana, where at night, it was so quiet you could hear a fly sound like a plane! It was twelve miles in, on horseback. The door scratched by the hungry bear that tried to get the bacon slab. The water, fresh and cold, run in to the cabin by an old steel pipe! Now that is inspiration!!
Excerpt from Letters from a Warrior:
LETTER #2
Well, we are starting another day. A Marine who said he was the Corporal of the Guard woke us up by slamming on GI can. He said Sgt. Smith was busy. He said he would take us to chow (breakfast) and then we would be processed.
They had us all file into a huge room. Here, some Marines in uniform started hollering at us to get undressed. We all took off our clothes and piled them on the floor. This Marine screamed that he meant all of our clothes. Mom, we had to take off our underwear too!
We all stood around naked as a Jay Bird! There were a lot of us in this room, it seemed like hundreds. They then screamed at us to line up, single file, one right behind the next. A Marine went to the head of the line and screamed he wanted the line A to B! Mom, this means you have to stand right against the guy in front of you. I mean touching! He then ordered us to march into the next room. Here each of us was given a galvanized bucket. We then proceeded to receive a toothbrush, a shaver, a bar of soap and a towel. They then made us all line up sideways and told us to sit down on the bucket. You have to visualize a hundred or more, naked, sitting on a bucket to really see the funny side of this!
We didn’t get dressed for hours. They pushed, prodded, walked and humiliated us from one room to another. They finally let us put on a pair of green pants, a yellow sweatshirt that said U. S. Marine Corps and a pair of white tennis shoes.
We were taken to chow and then back to the receiving area. The Marine said our Drill Instructors would be here tomorrow. He smiled and said, “good luck, you will need it!”
This won’t be so bad
Love, Dale
What exciting project are you working on next?
I have two! One is The White Buffalo. It follows a Buffalo skull, found north of Billings, Montana.
It starts out with the birth of a White Buffalo, follows the sire and the mother and baby thru Montana Territory, into Dakotas and Wyoming. It shows the growth of the young one, the death of the huge herds as they migrate. It ends up in Yellowstone Park as they kill the few remaining to appease the ranchers!
My next adventure is The Female Car Buying Animal. It is an educational handbook that guides the women of this world thru the land mines laid out by the dealers. It gives you an insight in how to negotiate anything you are buying! It tells you what to look out for, how to get a lower price and how to not get underwater in your payments!
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
Now
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I have only recently started writing full time. I never believed that I could publish, so I wrote for the desk drawer! I would get a manuscript ready, send it or a clip out! NO RESPONSE! Then it went to the drawer. This last time, a V.A. shrink got me loaded to go, one more time! That got me in touch with a GREAT Publisher, TAWC Publishing. The two guided me morally, spiritually and intellectually and wonders never cease, I am a full-time writer!!
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Well, my wife will say, I got hundreds! I like order. I think it is the Marine Corps training, but all has to be in line! I have an old cat that hangs out at my Deer feeder. It is wild. Every morning, I go down to feed the deer, it watches me from afar! I started bringing a piece of bacon with me. I would overly emphasize the placement on the logs in the area. I would lay it closer every day. My wife says that is a quirk!
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I changed my want as a child many times! I lived in Wahepton, North Dakota, I wanted to be a doctor. I practiced with the little girl next door! Then, when we moved to Minot, North Dakota, I wanted to be a Soda Jerk at the drug store. This actually put me to work at 13 melting the lead type into reusable bars at the local weekly newspaper so I could observe my next occupation as a reporter. I wanted to be an actor after watching John Wayne movies, I figured I would be a used car salesman at 15! Then my wish at 17 was to be a US Marine! That dream came true!
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Hopefully, my books will help people understand new perspectives in life. If I convince one child to reach the high fruit, I have succeeded. If one feels the need, as I did, you volunteer to defend your wonderful country as I did, I am a successful writer!
Links:
Website | Facebook | Instagram
Thank you so much for featuring this book and author.
This sounds intriguing.
This is Dale, Thank you for allowing me on your program!! It means a lot! AND–THANK the people who are attending and I hope I inspire many to order the book!
This looks really good. Great interview. Thanks for sharing.
This sounds like an interesting story.