Dale Robertson Was Wounded in WWII Before Finding Fame in Hollywood
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 5 June 2026
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, before he became a familiar face in westerns like Tales of Wells Fargo and Iron Horse, Dale Robertson was fighting in Europe during World War II. Commissioned through Officer Candidate School, he served with the U.S. Army’s 322nd Combat Engineer Battalion of the 97th Infantry Division, was wounded twice, and earned both the Silver Star and Bronze Star for his service.
In this installment of our ongoing Hollywood Goes to War series, historian, author, and former U.S. Marine Roger McGrath shares the remarkable story of how a decorated combat veteran went from the battlefields of World War II to a successful acting career in Hollywood.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.6 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:14.0 | This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, |
| 0:17.7 | the show where America is the star and the American people. |
| 0:21.6 | During Hollywood's Golden Age, Dale Robertson was considered the epitome of masculinity |
| 0:25.9 | as a star of TV and movie westerns during the genre's heyday. |
| 0:31.3 | Here to tell another story, another Hollywood Goes to War's story, is Dr. Roger McGrath, |
| 0:37.2 | a frequent contributor here on |
| 0:39.7 | our American stories. |
| 0:42.0 | Take it away, Roger. |
| 0:46.1 | Dale Robertson appeared in 37 movies and made dozens of guest appearances and various |
| 0:52.2 | television shows as well as starring in 201 episodes of his own series, Tales of Wells Fargo. |
| 1:03.0 | Cut, and it's a print. Hi, I'm Dale Robertson, shooting a Wells Fargo scene. |
| 1:08.8 | He was a star material from his first role as a cop in the boy with green hair in 1948. |
| 1:16.6 | Before that role, however, he was a decorated soldier in World War II. |
| 1:22.6 | You're a natural actor. You're a reactor. You listen and you react. It seems to come fairly easy to you. |
| 1:28.3 | Well, like I say, there are actors and their personalities. Motion pictures and television has usually been a business for personalities. |
| 1:35.1 | And the difference, in my opinion, the way an actor can change himself to fit a role. |
| 1:40.4 | And a personality out of necessity must change the role to fit himself. You know, I don't have the ability. |
| 1:46.0 | Well, nobody ever asked me to play Shakespeare, |
| 1:49.0 | and I wouldn't have done it anyway. |
| 1:50.0 | They wouldn't let me add to live, you know. |
... |
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