Dennis Allen Carlson

Dennis Allen Carlson was raised in Charles City and graduated from Charles City High School in the class of 1966. After school his family moved to Monticello and Carlson got engaged. Carlson experienced much loss as a young man, his father died of a heart attack shortly after he joined the Marine Corps, a brother died at the age of 19 years old of polio, and his twin brothers both died before the age of 6. Carlson commonly stated he would not live to the age of 20. He joined the Marine Corps in the spring of 1966 and was sent to South Vietnam in May 1967. PFC Carlson served as a machine gunner with the 1st Marine Division. In June 1967 PFC Carlson was wounded in action when his unit was ambushed by enemy forces while on a patrol. He was evacuated to a military hospital where he recovered and returned to his unit in the field. On October 14, 1967, while participating in Operation Medina in the Hai Lang Forest, PFC Carlson was killed in action. He received multiple gunshot wounds during a firefight with the enemy. The 19-year-old was buried on a quiet hilltop in Decorah. In a letter that was to be opened upon his death, he asked his fiancé to, “. . . never forget me and I wish that you would always keep a warm spot in your heart for a guy named Dennis A. Carlson.”