Edwin Van Galder was born in Hartle, Iowa, October 10, 1895, but moved to Beloit before he had reached high school age. He attended Beloit High School where he was an outstanding athlete and later played A.A.C. organization ball. He was a starting lineman for the Beloit Fairies in their famous series with the Green Bay Packers, when Beloit defeated Green Bay the first two time’s they met and outscored Green Bay 20-24 over their 4-game series. He was considered one of the finest linemen to ever play in Beloit.

Among the hundreds of Beloiters who responded to the call of their Nation to serve in the military during wartime, was Edwin Van Galder. In 1918, the then 23-year-old Van Galder found himself a United States Marine Sergeant, serving in the famous 5^th Marine Regiment. He fought in Champagne-Marne, all of the actions in the Chateau Thierry sector, in the Rhine-Marne offensive, Sorssons, St. Ettienne, the Morbache sector, in the St. Mihiel offensive, Belleau Woods and the march to Germany. Sgt. Edwin Van Galder, USMC, was cited for distinguished gallantry under fire in Belleau-Woods on June 15, 1918 and was awarded the Croix de Guerre, with citations by the commander of the French Armies of the East. He was again cited for gallantry in Second Division Orders after the fighting at St. Ettienne. Then following the Champagne offense on October 4, 1918, his heroism in action won him a recommendation from the commanding officer of the First Battalion, Fifth Regiment of Marines, for the Distinguished Service Cross, our nations second highest award for gallantry. Presentation of the DSC was made in France. A comrade of Edwin, writing after World War 1, told of hearing men coming in his unit, it was too dark for him to see who they were, but he heard a voice he recognized and called out: “Red, how was old Beloit the last time you heard from home? It was like a fellow touching a live wire somewhere in the dark. I was almost sorry to have startled him like that. My memory had been right. This was Red Van Galder. Of all the men I knew who spoke of home and distant towns, his pride was of his center of the universe, Beloit. When he spoke of his Wisconsin home, he made us feel it so.” Edwin Van Galder died unexpectedly of heart failure at a Madison Hospital in 1926 at the age of 31.