Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Michael Layne Hermanson, age 21, from Fargo, North Dakota, Cass county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Company A, 164Th Engineer Battalion, Minot, North Dakota
Date of death: Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Death details: Hostile; Al Abayachi, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Lance Jacob Koenig, age 33, from Fargo, North Dakota, Cass county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: B Company, 141St Engineer Battalion, (1St Infantry Division), Jamestown, Nd 58402
Date of death: Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Death details: Hostile; Tikrit, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Douglas Jack Pierce, age 19, from Cass County North Dakota.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, November 26, 1971
Death details: Non-hostile death
Cemetery: Marion, Illinois
Source: National Archives, Abilene Reporter News (1971)
Loren Douglas Hagen, age 25, from North Dakota, Cass county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Saturday, August 7, 1971
Source: National Archives
Brent William Sveen, age 19, from Harwood, North Dakota, Cass county.
Parents: George Sveen
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: West Fargo High graduate
Date of death: Monday, September 7, 1970
Death details: He was a passenger in a military vehicle when he encountered hostile forces.
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1970)
Joseph William Crary, age 25, from Fargo, North Dakota, Cass county.
Parents: John Crary (preceded in death)
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Shanley High graduate, Saint Louis University graduate, University of North Dakota
Date of death: Wednesday, May 27, 1970
Source: National Archives, Bismarck Tribune (1970)
David Francis Johnson, age 19, from Fargo, North Dakota, Cass county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Sunday, May 17, 1970
Cemetery: Holy Cross in Fargo
Source: National Archives, findagrave.com
Wendell Richard Keller, age 34, from North Dakota, Cass county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Saturday, March 1, 1969
Death details: Air Force Col. Wendell Keller of Fargo, N.D., and Capt. Virgil K. Meroney III of Fayetteville, Ark., were buried in a single casket representing their crew on Oct. 19, 2012 in Arlington National Cemetery. Meroney was interred individually on June 9, in his hometown. On March 1, 1969, Keller and Meroney were the crew of an F-4D Phantom II aircraft that crashed while carrying out a nighttime strike mission in Khammouan Province, Laos. Nearby U.S. aircrews reported seeing the aircraft hit by enemy fire. No parachutes were seen after the aircraft was hit. Heavy enemy presence in the area prevented recovery efforts. From 1994 to 2011, joint U.S.-Lao People’s Democratic Republic (L.P.D.R.) teams, led by Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), conducted several investigations and excavations of the crash site in Khammouan Province, Laos. The teams located human remains, military equipment, a military identification card, and aircraft wreckage of an F-4, including an engine data plate and radio call-sign plate. During the 17 years of investigations, analysts evaluated the material evidence and the accounts of more than 40 eyewitnesses to confirm the information correlated with the crew’s loss location. To identify the remains, scientists from JPAC used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools including dental comparisons and radiograph comparisons.
Cemetery: Arlington National
Source: National Archives
Clarence L. Olson from North Dakota, Cass county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Monday, September 18, 1944
Death details: Finding of death
Cemetery: Zachary Taylor National
Source: National Archives, grave marker
John Marvin Emery, age 22, from Cass County Gardner, North Dakota .
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Died non-battle
Source: National Archives