Army Badge
  • Name: George Paul Dimich
  • Location of Birth: Lawrence Lake Township, Itasca County, Minnesota
  • Date of Birth: May 13, 1924
  • Date of Death: October 15, 2007
  • Parents: Paul Dimich & Manda (Voyvodich) Dimich
  • High School and Class: 1942 Greenway High School, Coleraine, Minnesota
  • College:
  • Highest Rank: S SGT (Staff Sergeant)
  • Branch: Army
  • Other Branch:
  • Date Sworn In: November 19, 1942
  • Place Sworn In: Fort Snelling, Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • Date of Discharge: November 13, 1945
  • Place of Discharge:
  • Military Awards:
    Bronze Star

  • Military Highlights:
    WW II Draft Registration Cards – 10/16/1940 – 03/31/1947
    State: Minnesota
    Name: George Paul Dimich
    Race: White
    Age: 18
    Birth Date: May 13, 1924
    Birth Place: Lawrence Lake Township, Bovey, Itasca, Minnesota, USA
    Residence Place: Route 2, Bovey
    Registration Date: June 30, 1942
    Employer: Oliver Mining Co., Coleraine, Minnesota
    Weight: 170
    Height: 6
    Complexion: Ruddy
    Eye Color: Blue
    Hair Color: Brown
    Next of Kin: Paul Dimich, Bovey, Minnesota

    WW II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946
    Name: George P. Dimich
    Birth Year: 1924
    Race: White
    Nativity State or country: Minnesota
    State of Residence: Minnesota
    County or City: Itasca
    Enlistment Date: November 19, 1942
    Enlistment State: Minnesota
    Enlistment City: Fort Snelling
    Branch: Air Corps
    Branch Code: Air Corps
    Grade: Private
    Term of Enlistment: Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
    Component: Regular Army (including Officers, Nurses, Warrant Officers, and Enlisted Men)
    Source: Civil Life
    Education: 4 years of high school
    Civil Occupation: Mechanics and repairmen, airplane
    Marital status: Single, without dependents
    Height: 72
    Weight: 173

    George Dimich was assigned to the 366th Fighter Group and was a Staff Sergeant Crew Chief for the P-47 fighter plane earning a Bronze Star. Upon landing on Normandy, his fighter group established the first Allied airstrip on the European continent.

    Newspaper article: Bovey Press, Bovey, Minnesota – December 11, 1942 – Dear Friends: I received your Christmas box this morning and was very well pleased to get it. Well, we finished our basic training and it sure is a relief to get it over with. We are supposed to get shipped to some camp or fort to start escorting prisoners. There are five hundred prisoners to be in this camp by the first of December, so we will leave in the very near future. The weather has been terrible the last few days, nothing but rain. Well, I just got out of the hospital. I was in for two days for a sore back. I really think the hospital is the next thing to the morgue. In closing, I wish you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I’ll write as soon as I am stationed. A friend, Corporal George Dimich.”

    Newspaper article: Bovey Press, Bovey, Minnesota – December 25, 1942 – “Dear Horace: Well, I didn’t have much to do so I figured I may as well drop you a line or two. I have received the home town paper a few times and the first thing I go for is the back page. I notice that the boys are pretty well scattered throughout the world. Well, wherever they are they always appreciate the paper. And the boys in camp I am at all say that they really wish they had a paper like the one I am getting. And they really think it is wonderful what the Service men’s Club is doing to help the men in service. We got some prisoners of war in Saturday and Sunday and Saturday they had a train wreck just four miles from camp. And everyone thought it was sabotage and we had to be on the alert. You know you hear lots of people say different things about the different people. Well, I wish you could see the expression on these Italian prisoners. They are all happy and always laughing and personally, I think they are glad to be prisoners in this good old U.S.A. And I don’t blame them at all. Well, I get transferred to a little camp outside of Fort Leonardwood. I guess it really is a concentration camp. Funny thing, they don’t put Jap and German prisoners with the Italians. I guess they don’t trust them together. Well, there goes taps so I guess I’ll have to close for this time. Wishing you the Merriest Christmas and the Happiest New Year. I remain your friend, George Dimich.”

    Newspaper article: Bovey Press, Bovey, Minnesota – March 5, 1943 – “February 22, 1943. Dear Ann: Sorry I didn’t write before, but like most soldiers I let things slip too long. I get the Bovey Press every week and it is a happy day when I get it. So I want to thank you and also the Bovey Service Men’s Club for their wonderful gift, the same for the Girl Scouts. It pleases me to have such a swell young generation of people like the Girl Scouts of Bovey to think of their soldiers in service and try to please us, and they have. The same goes for the Press and the Club. I’ve been quite fortunate so far to have pals who are from around home, so we can have some joyful talks about northern Minnesota. They are also my roommates, one is from International Falls and the other is from Eveleth. I am quartered at a hotel here and there are four of us to a room. It is really nice here, the food is all right, the school is also an interesting place. That is all I can tell you for now. I have to close, the bus is leaving for school in a couple minutes. I just hope you continue to send the paper. It’s wonderful to read about what the other boys do, and where they are stationed. There is one thing I’m not scared to wager a bet, that every serviceman from good old Bovey wishes to be back for Farmers Day. I know I do. So long and the best of luck to you all back home. Yours truly, George P. Dimich.”

    Newspaper article: Bovey Press, Bovey, Minnesota - October 27, 1944 – “October 10th – France. Dear Ann: I suppose it has been quite a long time since I have written to the Press. Sorry I couldn’t, but I’ll try and not let it happen again. The main purpose of this letter is to inform you that my papers haven’t been coming thru. The reason is that the whole address is wrong. So at the end of this letter I’ll give you the correct address. Those letters you write in the Press are very interesting. And they sure are a great help when it comes to finding out where certain fellows are. It probably won’t be long before we won’t have to know where the other guy is, because nine chances out of ten, he’ll be across the street from you. This mess should not last too long now, do you think. This country of France is really interesting. The people are sure different here than they are in the states. I suppose it’s because the nation is a lot older than ours. They really treat you swell though. No matter where you go, the little kids will run up and shake hands with you. I’ll have more to say about it when I get home. I never was good at letter writing and that probably isn’t saying too much about a person-to-person conversation. I heard the good old Farmers’ Day was pretty good. The boys that were in it said it was darn good. I sure wish I was there to see it. Well, I’ll have to quit for this time, and maybe I can write more next time. So long, and lots of luck to you all at home. Just another Boveyite, George P. Dimich.”

    Newspaper article: Bovey Press, Bovey, Minnesota - December 22, 1944 – “ELIGIBLE TO WEAR GOLD-FRAMED CITATION – 9th Air Force Headquarters, France – Three officers and twelve enlisted men from Minnesota are part of the P-47 Thunderbolt fighter group which was recently awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation for smashing two German armored columns near St. Lo on July 11. The Germans, attempting to drive a wedge into American lines extending from Bayeaux to the Cherbourg peninsula, were spotted and attacked under a 1000 foot ceiling. Nearly a third of the tanks were knocked out. The Thunderbolts landed to refuel and rearm, then attacked again. This time the Nazi tanks were only 200 yards from American positions. The second attack completely disrupted the enemy columns, striking a decisive blow at enemy armor during a critical time of the Normandy campaign. Among the Minnesota men who are eligible to wear the gold-framed citation ribbon is S-Sgt. George P. Dimich, Route 2, Bovey.”

    Newspaper article: Bovey Press, Bovey, Minnesota – February 16, 1945 – “A Ninth Air Force Fighter-Bomber Base, Belgium – Staff Sergeant George P. Dimich, 20, Bovey, son of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Dimich, Route 2, is decorated with the Bronze Star Medal by Major General Elwood R. Quesada, Commanding General of the Ninth Tactical Air Command (see photo). Sgt. Dimich was awarded the medal for “meritorious service in direct support of combat operations against the enemy in the European Theater of Operations.” He is ground crew chief of the P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bomber, “Miss Janet”, which has flown 118 consecutive dive-bombing and strafing missions over France, Belgium and Germany. As a member of Col. Harold N. Holt’s Thunderbolt fighter group of the Ninth Air Force, Sgt. Dimich arrived in Normandy soon after D-Day to aid in operating one of the first American air strips in France. Along with the rest of his group, he recently received a War Department Unit Citation for Effective support of ground troops during the Battle of Normandy.”

  • Wars Involved:
    World War II

  • MIA / POW:

  • Civilian Life:
    George Dimich lived on the family farm in Lawrence Lake Township in Itasca County, Minnesota his entire life. After the war, George married Marie Smith in 1946 in Chisholm. He worked in the mines for 15 years before taking a job with Itasca County. At the same time he maintained the farm raising beef cattle, pheasants and potatoes for many years. After retiring, he continued work, being self-employed in his Itasca Track business. He and his wife started a youth 4-H club and worked extensively with the county extension agents on improved farming practices. He was a member of the VFW and Lawrence Lake American Legion. He worked countless hours helping the Itasca Ski and Outing Club with projects at the ski hill.

    George died in Itasca County, Minnesota and is buried in Lakeview Cemetery, Coleraine, Minnesota (new military section). He is survived by his wife, Marie; his three children, Jeanne (Gary) Meissner, Paul, and Walter (Becky) Dimich; four grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; his mother, Manda; a brother Mike; and sisters, Dorothy Hipkins, Anne (Norm) Luedke, and Helen (Norman) Hecimovich. He was preceded in death by his father, Paul Dimich, and a brother, Paul Dimich.

  • Tribal Affiliation(s):

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