President Roland Dille’s World War II Bronze Star found at garage sale, reunited with Dille family (WDAY TV)
MOORHEAD — This is a story about a lost World War II medal, a good Samaritan, and the grateful family of former Minnesota State Moorhead President Roland Dille.
That World War II medal was thought to be lost forever, after a storage unit burglary.
So, how Dille’s Bronze Star ended up at a special ceremony at Minnesota State Moorhead on Thursday, Aug. 7, is like a mystery movie.
“I’m an avid garage saler,” said Jennifer Williams, who found the Bronze Star.
Williams just moved to the area from Chicago. “I knew it was special, my grandfather also received a Bronze Star so I knew what it was,” she said of the find at a garage sale in Moorhead.
“I flipped it over, I knew there was a name on the back of it and I Googled it and saw he was someone important. Not being from here, I didn’t know how important he was to the community but he sure was someone special,” she said.
Though she didn’t know who Dille was, it seemed everyone else did and once the university got wind of the story, the effort began to reunite the medal with the Dille family. The medal was lost when their rental unit was vandalized shortly after the family house was sold.