Sounds a lot like my father's story. I will ask him (he's 88) to see if he knew your father. My dad, First Lieutenant William P. Dale, Jr. lives in Pennsylvania and I'm in Florida. I am looking at copies of many of his orders right now and I did search one of the lists for your dad's name to no avail but it was a reassignment order from California to Guadalcanal. My dad ended up in Japan and then China before going home. And he earned a purple heart from having been wounded in Okinawa. Spent time in a MASH and recovering in Guam before they sent him back to fight. Still interpreting all the papers he sent me. Will let you know if the name rings a bell for him.