Interviewer(s): D. Austin. Lafayette, LA

Affiliation: University of Arizona

I was referred to Dale Fackler by Maryann Galletti, Val Rudolph, and Mitch Cancionne. I first contacted Dale in September 2002, shortly after Hurricane Lili had struck Lafayette, and he was busy cleaning up from the hurricane. We agreed that I would get back in touch with him on my next trip to the Gulf. He was very happy to get together at that time, and spent several hours with me sharing his experiences and perspectives. He had a collection of photographs and newspaper articles organized in an album, and he willingly offered for me to copy whatever I wanted from his collection. I returned in early December to review his materials and conduct a photo interview.

Dale grew up in Ohio. He moved to California two years after finishing high school, where he learned to SCUBA dive. He joined the service and was married. He and his wife returned to Ohio, but they soon made their way back to California where Dale enrolled in the Coastal School of Diving. He traveled to Morgan City with plans to work long enough to earn the money needed to get out of Louisiana. He worked for Ocean Systems, a diving company that had been formed by Union Carbide, until that company was sold to Oceaneering. He worked for Oceaneering until 1983 when he formed his own company, Wet Solutions, which he still operates out of Lafayette.