Looking for her father

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Hannah Dazzler displays some photographs she has of her father, Solomon Dazzler, and the medals she recently received from his service during World War II. Hannah Dazzler and her siblings are eager to find out more about their father, who died in 1975, so they may tell their children and grandchildren about him. (BCR photo/Barb Kromphardt)

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PRINCETON — Hannah Dazzler came one step closer in her search for information about her father last weekend.

Standing in Princeton’s American Legion Hall, Dazzler was finally able to hold in her hands the medals Solomon Dazzler had earned during World War II.

Solomon Dazzler was 31 years old when he enlisted in the Army in Oklahoma in 1942. He became part of Company I, 71st Infantry and served as a machine gunner and combat infantryman for the rest of the war, serving and fighting in Rhineland, Germany, and Northern France.

Solomon Dazzler earned seven medals during the war, but for some reason unknown to his family, he never received them. Instead, after leaving the Army on Sept. 17, 1945, he went on with his life, working at the U.S. Naval Ammunition Depot in McAlester, Okla. for several years. He later held down two jobs at the Tulsa city water department in Oklahoma, doing whatever was necessary to support his wife and family of five children until his death in 1975.

Hannah Dazzler, who has lived in Princeton with her husband, Paul Johnson, since 2000, was only 13 when her father died. She has good memories of her father, but she’d like to know more.

“He was a very good man,” she said. “He had a lot of friends, and he worked hard, and he worked hard for his country.”

Several months ago, Dazzler was watching a television program about World War II, and she decided to pursue the medals her father had earned but never received.

“I was going on the Internet, and I didn’t really know how to use a computer. But I did what I could,” she said.

She first contacted the veterans clinic in Oklahoma and eventually ended up calling her congressman, Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D-11th District.) Halvorson’s office told her what papers she needed, and finally, on Nov. 14, Halvorson herself came to Princeton to present Dazzler with the medals, which included the Bronze Star, World War II Victory Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, Honorable Service Lapel Button, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

Dazzler was happy to receive the medals but said there’s so much more she would like to learn about her father.

Dazzler said her father didn’t much like talking about his war days so, besides her memories, she has few concrete clues as to who the man was. One is a document from his days at the Navy ammunition depot, showing him receiving a raise from $1.01 per hour to $1.06.

There’s also a handful of pictures with a few cryptic notes in her father’s handwriting on the back. There’s a group shot of his weapons platoon and two grainy shots dated July 10, 1942, one indicating they were coming from parading at his camp in Fort Lewis, Wash.

Dazzler said she doesn’t plan on giving up her search for more information about her father.

“We’re all trying to find out more about him, more about our history and where we come from,” she said. “It’s not just for us, but for our kids, all of our kids and all of our grandkids, and all of our great-grandkids that are soon to be.”

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