PFC Charles Frederick Dieckman (ASN 39591977) was born on August 25, 1918 in Marshalltown, Marshall, Iowa. His father, Lloyd Lewis Dieckman, was born and raised in Marshall County, Iowa. His mother, Margaret Frances Roth, was born and raised in Illinois. His father was an iron molder who worked at a foundry in Denver, Colorado. Charles was his parent’s only child. He had an older half-brother from his mother’s first marriage.
Charles moved to Denver, Colorado when he was an infant. He was raised with his half-brother and started school in Denver. He was ten years old when his parents divorced. His mother remarried a year and her sons were raised with their stepfather in Denver. Charles graduated from West High School in Denver in 1936. His father also died that year. Charles attended college for a year, and then started working at the Gates Rubber plant in Denver. On April 7, 1939 Charles married Colorado native, Georgia Nell Morris Arthur, in Denver, Colorado. His wife had a daughter from her first marriage. The family was living in Denver when Charles received his draft card on October 16, 1940. In 1942, Charles moved the family to California where he worked as an Army Air Forces Procurement Inspector at the Firestone Rubber Company plant in Santa Ana, California. He received his induction notice in June 1944, and on June 29, 1944 he enlisted in the Army at Fort MacArthur, California.
Charles received his preliminary training at Camp Hood, Texas, with Company C, 153rd Battalion, 91st Regiment. By the end of 1944, he was assigned to Company K, 9th Infantry, 2nd Division, First Army. He was shipped overseas to join the rest of the 9th Infantry Regiment (IR) then embroiled in the Battle of the Bulge.
At the time of his arrival in January 1945, the 2nd Infantry Division (ID) was holding defensive positions at Elsenborn Ridge where the enemy advance during the Battle of the Bulge had been stalled. In February 1945, the Allies went on attack. The 2nd ID started recapturing ground that was lost in the initial German attack in December. Through February and March, the 2nd ID stormed key German towns in its thrust to the Rhine. The Division breached the river defenses and reached the Rhine on March 9, 1945. Surprisingly, the First Army found the Ludendorff Bridge in Remagen across the Rhine was still intact. The Army crossed the bridge and established a bridgehead on the east side of the Rhine. The bridge was later destroyed by the Germans on March 17.
On March 26, 1945 the 2nd Division broke out from the bridgehead under heavy enemy fire and started its advance to Frankfurt. On that same day, PFC Charles F. Dieckman was struck and killed instantly by a sniper’s bullet.
In 1948 the body of PFC Dieckman was repatriated to his home state of Colorado. In May 1948 he was laid to rest at the Crown Hill Cemetery in Wheat Ridge, Jefferson, Colorado. He was survived by his wife and stepdaughter. He was also survived by his mother, stepfather, and older half-brother. His half-brother, Harold Arthur Degnan, served in the Navy during WWII. His widow settled in California and didn’t remarry until 1968.
