As early as age ten, Dale Earl Neumann aspired to be president of the United States. Although you might be tempted to dismiss young Dale’s dream as common, childhood fantasy, when you learn the path he personally plotted and was methodically journeying down, you realize there was nothing common or childlike about this young man’s ambition. Unfortunately, 1LT Neumann died in an automobile accident at the young age of 24—well before his dream could be realized.

Dale and his twin sister, Diane, were born in Butte, MT, to Dale and Sandy Neumann. They were the third and fourth in a family of seven children. His sister, Sandy, who was eight years his junior, describes Dale as a proud person, who rose above seemingly insurmountable odds to become a leader. She remembers his uncanny foresight, his unwavering perseverance, and his ability to visualize and achieve success. “He was a very inspirational person,” she says. “He taught me to shoot for the stars and to be relentless in my pursuits.”

Dale’s struggle to overcome the odds began when he was a young boy. Born into a family fighting poverty and surviving only with the aid of welfare, Dale was known to darn the holes in his socks and patch his own jeans. Their mother was a licensed beautician who operated her business out of the family kitchen to be home for her children. Their father was an absentee parent who eventually divorced their mother and remarried, only to die tragically with his new wife in a house fire. He was buried on 30 Nov 1973, Dale’s and Diane’s 13th birthday.

Because Dale was the eldest son and had no real father figure, he responded by becoming a role model himself. During high school in Whitehall, MT, where the family moved in 1974, Dale was highly respected by peers, teachers, and coaches, and was considered a leader by all. He was captain of the varsity football team, set numerous school records in track and field, and played baseball and basketball. An honor student off the field, he was instrumental in computerizing his public school. He went to Berkeley, CA, for training and then served as a technology pioneer, helping wire Whitehall High School. Sister Sandy says this was just one example of Dale’s foresight. “Even back then, Dale knew computers were the wave of the future. He was always at least 10 years ahead of his time,” she says.

In his senior year of high school, without direction, encouragement, or any political connections, Dale secretly began writing letters to Montana senators, asking for a nomination to West Point. When the news of his appointment arrived, Dale surprised his family with the announcement he would be attending the United States Military Academy. In 1979, after being selected to Who’s Who Among American High School Students and graduating as class salutatorian, Dale headed for West Point.

While at the Academy, he majored in computer science and was active in the Dialectic Society, Arabic club, and the 150-pound football team. Sandy says Dale’s interest in learning about the Arabic culture and language was yet another example of Dale’s foresight. “He knew that a crisis would eventually erupt in the Middle East. If he were alive today, I’m convinced he would be in a prominent defense strategy role, passionately and wholeheartedly sharing in our battle and trying to solve this mess,” says Sandy.

Dale graduated from West Point in May 1983, married his high school sweetheart, Karen Hedegaard, on June 19, and headed to Ft. Belvoir, VA, for Officer Basic Training. In late 1983, after finishing the Basic Course, Dale and his new wife moved to Ft. Polk, LA, where he joined the 7th Combat Engineer Battalion. There, he served as both a platoon leader and company executive officer, and was promoted to first lieutenant.

The first week of July 1985, Dale went home to Whitehall, alone, for his baby brother Dan’s wedding. “I’ll never forget him sitting on the edge of my bed, talking about how much he missed Karen,” says Sandy. “He said, ‘I’ll never leave her again.’”

Those words come back to Sandy often, as that was the last time she and her family saw him alive. Dale and Karen died together from injuries received in a single vehicle crash in Louisiana on 20 Jul 1985.

West Point classmate and friend, Bill Bristow, was stationed with Dale at Ft. Polk for the two years Dale and Karen were there. “LT Neumann was a great guy,” Bristow remembers. “He enjoyed what he was doing, and the soldiers liked and respected him. He would have gone far.” Sandy agrees and thinks Dale would still be in the military if he were alive. “Serving our country was his life,” she says.

Dale is survived by his mother, Sandy, of Butte, MT; sister Marjorie Thomas, her husband Joe, and their children, Zac and Danilo, of Butte; brother-in-law Dana LeClair and children Seth and Jordan LeClair and Chad Walker of Billings and Great Falls, MT, respectively; twin sister Diane Patera, her husband Rick, and their daughters Ashley, Brittney, and Chelsey, of Bozeman, MT; brother David, his wife Patty, and their boys David, Dale, and Tyler, of Elko, NV; brother Dan, his wife Jaclynn, and their children Tanner, Danika, and Trevor, of Butte; and sister Sandy, also of Butte. He was preceded in death by his father, Dale Neumann, Sr.; grandmother Florence Harrington; and sister, Nancy LeClair.

Kathi Whitley and George Allen Whitley, Jr. ’83, Dale’s Plebe year roommate