DALE PETERSEN
Biography
Dale H. Petersen grew up in Platte, South Dakota, a small town of about 1000 people. His Dad was the pastor of a fairly large church in the Dutch Reformed tradition, and his Mom had her hands full being the pastor’s wife and caring for eight kids. He remembers having devotions and prayers at each and every meal, and much of his knowledge of the Bible came through these family readings and discussions. But it was from his Mom, sometimes literally at her knee, that he came to really understand God’s love for him and how his Mom’s character mirrored God’s love.The faith of Dale’s parents had a deep impact on him early on. One of their greatest goals was for their children to truly know God and his Word, and make that central to who they are.
As long as Dale Petersen can remember, he’s known who Jesus is. At a young age, Dale obviously didn’t know much about doctrines or theology, but he did know that Jesus loved him and had died on a cross for his sins. And he believed it. However, as Dale reached adolescence, he began to drift spiritually. More and more the focus of his life became himself. Dale didn’t really forget about God; he just didn’t seem as relevant to Dale as in his younger years.
Somewhere around the end of his adolescence, in July 1969 to be exact, Dale found himself in northern I Corps of Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division as a helicopter pilot. He flew CH-47 Chinooks. He was 21 years old but in truth still a kid. In the middle of a war zone, Dale was scared. That year of his life in Vietnam saw some interesting cross-currents of his faith. At first he experienced a real strengthening of his faith. He knew he couldn’t rest in his own strength nor could he turn to anybody else but God. Yet, at times he wondered if God was even real, did he even exist?
So began a year’s journey in a combat zone of the Vietnam War, a journey of duty, survival, boredom, fear, pain, sadness, exhilaration, and joy. But the one year journey in Vietnam was also just the beginning of another spiritual journey, the journey of a whole life.
Dale H. Petersen grew up in Platte, South Dakota, a small town of about 1000 people. His Dad was the pastor of a fairly large church in the Dutch Reformed tradition, and his Mom had her hands full being the pastor’s wife and caring for eight kids. He remembers having devotions and prayers at each and every meal, and much of his knowledge of the Bible came through these family readings and discussions. But it was from his Mom, sometimes literally at her knee, that he came to really understand God’s love for him and how his Mom’s character mirrored God’s love.The faith of Dale’s parents had a deep impact on him early on. One of their greatest goals was for their children to truly know God and his Word, and make that central to who they are.
As long as Dale Petersen can remember, he’s known who Jesus is. At a young age, Dale obviously didn’t know much about doctrines or theology, but he did know that Jesus loved him and had died on a cross for his sins. And he believed it. However, as Dale reached adolescence, he began to drift spiritually. More and more the focus of his life became himself. Dale didn’t really forget about God; he just didn’t seem as relevant to Dale as in his younger years.
Somewhere around the end of his adolescence, in July 1969 to be exact, Dale found himself in northern I Corps of Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division as a helicopter pilot. He flew CH-47 Chinooks. He was 21 years old but in truth still a kid. In the middle of a war zone, Dale was scared. That year of his life in Vietnam saw some interesting cross-currents of his faith. At first he experienced a real strengthening of his faith. He knew he couldn’t rest in his own strength nor could he turn to anybody else but God. Yet, at times he wondered if God was even real, did he even exist?
So began a year’s journey in a combat zone of the Vietnam War, a journey of duty, survival, boredom, fear, pain, sadness, exhilaration, and joy. But the one year journey in Vietnam was also just the beginning of another spiritual journey, the journey of a whole life.