Kevin Shawn Rux, age 30, from Portland, North Dakota, Trail county.
Service era: War on Terror
Date of death: Thursday, October 12, 2000
Death details: Died aboard the U.S.S. Cole when suicide bombers detonated an explosive-laden boat against the ship’s port side, tearing a 40-by-40-foot hole in the hull and sending seawater gushing into the engineering compartment.
Source: Department of Defense
Kenneth Hefta from Traill County Portland, North Dakota .
Parents: Albert Hefta
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Unknown
Death details: In early February 1951, the United States, Republic of Korea (ROK), and United Nations forces moved out from Wonju, South Korea, and launched a large-scale counteroffensive against invading Chinese Communist Forces (CCF). Company L of the 3rd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, took part in the action, establishing a position on the west side of Wonju and advancing through the hilly terrain amid light resistance from the CCF. However, on February 11, the CCF launched its own major counteroffensive against the advancing U.S. forces. Company L held their ground initially, but soon the CCF’s superior numbers forced the unit to withdraw back through Wonju. Sergeant Kenneth Hefta joined the U.S. Army from North Dakota and was a member of L Company of the 3rd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division when he was captured by the CCF during the fighting on February 11. He and other prisoners were marched north to the Suan Bean holding camp in Suan, North Korea, arriving in March 1951. Following the end of hostilities, surviving prisoners of war reported that SGT Hefta died of malnutrition and exposure at the Suan Bean Camp in April 1951, and was buried at the edge of the village. Unfortunately, his remains have not been recovered because U.S. personnel are not permitted to conduct searches at the Suan camps. He could not be associated with any of those remains returned to U.S. custody since the ceasefire. Today, Sergeant Kenneth Hefta is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Fargo Forum (1954)