Dave Dial: A lifetime of fishing for information

By Charlie Souhrada, Honor Flight Chicago Veteran Interview Volunteer

Born October 12, 1944, in Albany, California, and raised in nearby Hayward, Dave Dial grew up as an only child in a hardworking blue-collar family. His parents didn’t graduate from high school, but they were doubly determined that their son would have opportunities they hadn’t and viewed education as the key to a better life. 

“They thought they didn’t have good jobs because they didn’t have good educations,” Dave says. “They said, ‘You’ve got to go to college!’” 

After graduating from Hayward’s Mt. Eden High School in 1962, Dave took their advice and headed to San Jose State. Blessed with a knack for math, he figured engineering might be the right path. It didn’t take long to discover otherwise. “That lasted all of one year and I decided, ‘this isn’t going to work.’” 

A chance conversation with a college counselor introduced him to San Jose State’s Police Science program, the nation’s oldest collegiate policing program. After meeting with the department chair, Mel Miller, Dave was hooked. He changed majors, threw himself into the study of law enforcement and joined a police fraternity, Chi Pi Sigma, where he met fellow student Kenneth Merrihew, who became a lifelong friend. 

“Ken was an extremely disciplined guy. “He’d get up in the morning, go to campus, have breakfast, and if he didn’t have a class, he’d go to the library and study,” Dave remembers. “I started to emulate his study habits and my grades skyrocketed.” 

(Editor’s note: Sadly, Ken, who served as a lieutenant in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division during Vietnam and ironically shared Dave’s birthdate, passed away on July 21. He would have joined Dave as his buddy on the August Honor Flight.) 

One night during his junior year of college, Dave joined a friend who served with the nearby Milpitas Police Department on a ride-along. “It was an incredibly exciting night. Red lights. Sirens. I couldn’t believe they paid people to do this kind of work!” From that moment on, Dave knew he wanted to become a police officer. During his final semester of college, he achieved that goal by joining the Milpitas Police Department. 

While serving in the force, Dave also participated in Army ROTC and, upon graduating in 1967, was commissioned as a second lieutenant. “I took off my cap and gown and had my Army uniform underneath,” he says. “My mom put my bars on my shoulders.” 

Expecting to enter military police work, he was instead assigned to Military Intelligence and designated a Military Intelligence Officer (MOS 9300).  

As a newly commissioned Army officer, Dave spent his first year in training. After completing the Infantry Officer Basic Course (IOBC) at Fort Benning, Georgia, he was transferred to the Army Intelligence School (USAINTS), at Fort Holabird, Maryland. He then attended the Defense Language Institute (DLI) at Fort Bliss, Texas, where he received Vietnamese language training. 

During this time, Dave reconnected with Mary Pat Barber, a girl he had dated in high school before her family moved away. “During a Christmas break, I saw her family’s Christmas card at my mother’s house and thought, ‘She looks pretty good now!’” Determined to reconnect, he used his police training to do some investigating, tracked her down, confirmed she wasn’t married, and arranged a visit with a friend in tow. The effort paid off, and the renewed friendship quickly blossomed into something more.  

In 1968, just before deploying to Vietnam, Dave took Pat out to dinner, presented her with a corsage and a ring, and asked her to marry him. “She said ‘okay,’ and I told her she had one whole year to plan our wedding!”  

The next day, on October 1, First Lieutenant Dave Dial arrived at Cam Ranh Air Base in Vietnam. He was assigned to the 9th Infantry Division in the Mekong Delta, where he served as the officer-in-charge of the division’s Detainee Collection Point and Prisoner of War Interrogation Unit at Dong Tam Base Camp. His introduction to the war zone was immediate. “I flew in, landed at the helipad, and a sergeant met me there in a Jeep and said, ‘Welcome to Mortar City.” 

Life on base quickly became a crash course in combat. Dave lived next to a bunker and soon learned to distinguish between incoming and outgoing artillery rounds, a skill that became second nature in a place where rows upon rows of concertina wire, attacks, and shelling were a constant reality. 

His mission was to gather and analyze tactical intelligence from captured Viet Cong, providing critical information that could protect American troops operating in the field. Working closely with interpreters, analysts, and combat units, Dave helped ensure that battlefield intelligence reached commanders quickly. 

“We were a short-term tactical intelligence unit,” Dave explains. “We weren’t looking for long-term intelligence because prisoners weren’t usually kept on our base for very long. We asked quick, straightforward questions. What unit are you with? How many people are in it? What’s your mission? What weapons do you have?” The goal was to gather information that could help our troops understand what they might be facing that day.”  

Among the experiences that stay with him was the loss of Specialist Francis “Frank” Sullivan, a young soldier under his command who was killed during a mission on New Year’s Eve 1968. The tragedy underscored the personal cost of war and the responsibility borne by leaders charged with caring for those they served alongside. He remembers carefully choosing the right words to share the heartbreaking news in a letter to Frank’s mother. 

Dave completed his Vietnam tour in August 1969. One of his most vivid memories came during the flight home. “Gentlemen, we’ve just passed the boundaries of the continental United States,” the pilot announced. “What a feeling that was,” Dave recalls. “When we landed at Fort Lewis, Washington, we could smell the pine trees. Wow!” He remained on duty in the Army Reserves until June 8, 1973. 

During his military career, Dave was awarded numerous decorations, including the Bronze Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Commendation Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm, and the Civil Actions Medal. Despite these honors, he speaks of them with humility. 

Upon returning to the United States, Dave immediately resumed his law enforcement career in Milpitas. Just two months after his return, on October 10, 1969, he and Pat were married, celebrating the wedding she had spent the past year planning while he served in Vietnam. 

In 1971, Dave and Pat welcomed their son, David. Three years later, their daughter, Krista was born, completing the family.

  In 1973, Dave accepted a position with the Lakewood Police Department in Colorado. Through continued hard work and dedication, he rose through the ranks from patrol officer to assistant chief of police. Along the way, he completed numerous specialized training courses and earned his first graduate degree, a Master of Arts in Public Administration from the University of Colorado Boulder. 

In 1990, the Naperville Police Department conducted a nationwide search for a new chief of police, and Dave was selected for the position. While leading the police force of Illinois’ third-largest city, he remained committed to lifelong learning. Remembering his parents’ emphasis on education, he returned to school and, in 2006, earned a Master of Arts in Homeland Security and Defense from the Naval Postgraduate School. 

After 22 years as Naperville’s police chief, Dave retired in 2012, ending an accomplished, 45-year law enforcement career. Retirement, however, still wasn’t in his plans. Instead, he went on to serve as chair of Aurora University’s Department of Criminal Justice, a role he held until 2021.  

Today, Dave and Pat continue to call Naperville home, where they’ve lived for more than three decades. An avid fly fisherman, Dave is an active member of two fly fishing organizations, Trout Unlimited and DuPage River Fly Tyers, better known as DRiFT, an organization dedicated to water resource conservation, education, and the sport of fly fishing. Through the group’s programs, he helps disabled veterans learn the art of fishing and the joy of being outdoors.  

Thank you for your service, Dave, and for your continued commitment to community service. May the fish be rising and your casts be true!