More detail on this person: Dale was the oldest
of 5 children of Karl and Mary Kuberek. He was
called Butchie as a child, later Butch, then he
insisted everyone call him Dale. He didn't like
the name Dale when he was young because the
only person he ever heard of with the name was
Dale Evans, a female. As he grew up he learned to
like the name, it was not common then and he also
found a male actor named Dale Robertson, who
played in cowboy movies. He also had the
nickname "Kub" (pronounced koob) for most of his
life by schoolmates and Army buddies.
He was very intelligent and always got good grades
in school. He was tall, good looking and popular.
Dale was an avid reader and collected books, he
especially liked Sherlock Holmes and even
Shakespeare! He was always mature for his age
and very self-confident. He walked tall and
straight. After graduating from Chartiers Valley
High School in 1963, he attended Clarion College
for 2 years and was a member of the Alpha Gamma
Phi fraternity. Money was tight so he had to leave
college and he decided to join the Army, so he
enlisted on our mother's birthday, October 31,
1966. Mum was not happy that he joined the
military, the Vietnam War was going on then and
our country was losing brave young men every day
for a war that no one understood.
Dale did extremely well in Army boot camp and
excelled at everything. Out of 200 men he was
selected as "Outstanding Trainee" of his unit in
Ft. Jackson. His award read in part: "For his
exemplary performance, his consistent excellence
in marksmanship, inspections, physical training,
and his untiring efforts in learning the many
subjects taught in the program he served as a
constant example to the members of his
company."
He then attended Advanced Individual Training in
Armor and his first assignment was as Armor
Platoon Leader. He did so well he was then
recommended for Officer Candidate School. He
completed that and got his 2nd Lieutenant
commission on 10-13-1967. I was there when my
big brother got his gold bars and we were so proud
of him!
Next he attended flight school to be a helicopter
pilot. Helicopters were in heavy use in Vietnam to
deliver and extract troops, evacuate wounded,
deliver supplies...and to attack the enemy. He was
training at Fort Wolters, Texas - US Army Primary
Helicopter School. Flight school was very
intensive and difficult. At one point he felt he
would never get the hang of it, but as usual, he
succeeded! He had his first solo flight and called
home to tell us about it. He was so proud and so
were we! He was now looking forward to the 4th of
July weekend when he would get a much-needed
break and his beloved girlfriend, Shari, was
coming to visit him for a few days.
But...tragedy struck. On the night of June 28, he
was driving back to his apartment on a road that
was under construction and poorly marked. He was
hit head-on by another car. The other driver fled
on foot and left my brother to die on that lonely
road. We don't know how long it was until someone
found him and called for help...we were told he
died "instantly" but I always felt the Army just
told us that to comfort us. No one was there to
comfort my brother as he took his final
breaths...he was only 22.
We were told he died on June 29 at 1:10 AM, but I
am convinced he died on June 28. The next week
for us was the hardest time of all our lives,
especially my parents. No parent should ever bury
a child. It is too painful, even to this day as I
write this decades later, with tears on my face,
to talk about. It changed all our lives forever.
My brother never got the chance to marry and have
children. And we will always wonder if he could
have been saved if that other driver had called
for help instead of running like a coward.
Rest in Peace, dear brother. We will always love
you and honor you. We all miss you so much.
Dale had 2 sisters, Karla and Mary and 2 brothers,
Jim and Keith. Two half-brothers, Skip and Karl,
died after Dale. Karl is buried next to Dale and
Skip is not far from them.
For Dale's funeral service, my dad did not want
Taps played or the gun volley done, he thought it
would be too hard on all of us, especially my
mother. It always bothered me, my brother deserved
that! In 2002 I discovered a group called Bugles
Across America. I contacted them and one of their
volunteers went to the cemetery with me and played
Taps for my brother, on the 34th anniversary of
his death. I set my brother's flag on his
headstone and I held his picture tightly to me,
while David played Taps. It was beautiful. I can
rest knowing my brother got the honor he deserved.
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024
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