Dager attained the rank of major general, and his awards included the Distinguished Service Cross, Army Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star with oak leaf cluster, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal with two oak leaf clusters, French Legion of Honor (Chevalier), and French Croix de Guerre with Palm.

Commissioned in the regular army as the U.S. military expanded for World War I, he served in combat in France as a member of the 51st Infantry Regiment.

Dager remained in the army after the war, and served in a variety of command and staff positions as he advanced through the ranks.

[13] He remained at the academy until the end of 1924, when he was assigned as a student officer in the basic course at the United States Army Infantry School.

[13] In 1929, Dager was posted to Fort Leavenworth and enrolled in the United States Army Command and General Staff College.

[13] After graduating from the Command and General Staff College in 1931, Dager was promoted to major and assigned to the 65th Infantry Regiment in Puerto Rico, where he remained until 1934.

[13] In late 1941, Dager was assigned as assistant operations officer (G-3) on the staff of First United States Army at Governors Island, New York.

[13] With the army anticipating U.S. entry into World War II, in early 1941 he was promoted to colonel and assigned to command the 41st Armored Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning.

"[13] When Third Army commander General George S. Patton famously urinated into the Rhine as a symbolic insult to Nazi Germany, it was Dager he addressed with "I've been waiting three long years to piss in this creek!

"[13] Dager assumed command of the 11th Armored Division at Mayen, Germany in March 1945 and was promoted to temporary major general.

[13] Upon returning to the United States, he reverted to the rank of brigadier general and was assigned as director of training for the army's Fourth Service Command at Fort McPherson, Georgia.

[17] Dager's awards and decorations included:[18][19][20][21] For extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations on 31 July, 1944 against an armed enemy at Avranches, France.

[25] From 1948 to 1950, Dager was a civilian intelligence officer on the staff of General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in post-war Japan.

[1] Dager later relocated to the FCDA's office in Battle Creek, Michigan, where he served as special assistant for planning to Val Peterson, the organization's director.

[29][30] According to contemporary news accounts, Mrs. Dager had attempted to obtain permission for her mother to leave the Soviet-bloc country for more than 20 years.