Dallmont J. Erickson was raised in Antelope County in the Elgin area.  He graduated from Elgin High School in 1939 and worked for Boeing Aircraft in Kansas.  He joined the Merchant Marines and took training in navigation and seamanship.  He was transferred to the Army Transportation Corps and served on a gasoline tanker in Europe.  He was discharged on December 6, 1946 after 36 months with the Merchant Marines.  He returned to Elgin and farmed for a while.  In 1949 he married Bernadine L. Anderson of Elgin.  They had one daughter.