Dinsmore served as a Marine in World War II

By Tom Hintgen

Otter Tail County Correspondent

In February 1945 a young man named Dean Dinsmore, who grew up on a farm near Ulen northeast of Moorhead, was a Marine and part of the United States invasion of Iwo Jima during World War II. 

The capture of the small island from the Japanese provided emergency landing strips for U.S. airplanes. Raising the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima became a famous photo from the final stages of World War II. 

Dinsmore, after the war’s end, returned home after a three-year South Pacific tour of duty with the U.S. Marine Corp., 3rd Division. In 1954 he, his wife Muriel and children moved to Otter Tail County where Dean began work as a land surveyor with Fergus Falls-based Otter Tail Power Company.

Fast forward to 2020 and Dean’s son John, recently retired, had his late father’s World War II letters to his parents near Ulen reprinted in a book for Dinsmore family members and friends. Commentary, researched and written by John, accompanies each letter.

The book, “Becoming Buddy,” was published in 2021 to honor Dean Dinsmore who would have celebrated his 100th birthday. To many in the family, Dean was known as “Grandpa Buddy.” They deeply appreciate Grandpa Buddy’s World War II letters to home.

In the book, not being sold, John Dinsmore encourages others throughout Otter Tail County to preserve their own life stories. He hopes that “Becoming Buddy” will inspire others to pass along stories about their family members.

Dinsmore part of “Greatest Generation”

Dean Dinsmore’s military service during World War II became part of what many Americans refer to as the “Greatest Generation.” Close to 16.5 million men and women, including those raised in Otter Tail County, served in the United States armed forces from 1941 to 1945.

“In the era of considerable upheaval and danger, military service by Ulen’s young men and women exceeded the national average in their individual decisions to serve our country during wartime,” wrote John Dinsmore. 

His father, Dean, celebrated his 23rd birthday in the South Pacific.

“Along with a letter sent to my father by his parents was a photo of Buddy (my dad), his brother Harold and T-Bone, a male Chesapeake Bay Retriever,” wrote John. “T-Bone was a favorite hunting companion back home near Ulen.”

Like most veterans, Dean included, the thought of returning home was ever present on their minds. Many who did make it home experienced close calls, also witnessing buddies wounded or killed in combat.

Buddy appreciated receiving letters from his parents. His father William, known as Poppy, was born in Maine Township, Otter Tail County, the oldest of four children. Later on, Poppy was a member of the Ulen Cooperative Creamery Board.

Wrote Dean in a letter to his father:

“You know, dad, when you write to me about the horses and our dog, I get homesick as hell. It will be great when I finally do get home to be around them again.”

Once Buddy was home from World War II, he pledged to listen and learn from nature. Wrote John Dinsmore:

Buddy, while relaxing, loved to look out over lakes in Otter Tail County as the loons wailed and simply say, “Doesn’t it make you wonder what the poor people are doing tonight?” For Buddy, “poor people” was not a reference to people with little or no money.

Instead, it included all who were not able to appreciate or comprehend nature, its beauty and its richness. For him, at that moment in time, no one was richer than he, enjoying the endless bounties that nature had to offer. 

“Songs were also a part of Buddy’s repertoire for living life fully,” wrote John. 

Many of Dean’s favorite songs were inspired by Mitch Miller’s 1950s recordings such as “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” and “A Bicycle Built for Two.”

Of all the life lessons Grandpa Buddy exemplified, a key message was this: “Be kind to all whom you meet, for each is carrying a heavy burden.”