Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
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
Todd A. Kraft, age 19, from Devils Lake, North Dakota.
Service era: Beirut bombings
School: Devils Lake High (1982)
Date of death: Sunday, December 4, 1983
Death details: The evening of December 4th a reinforced squad of Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, led by Sgt Manuel A. Cox, came under attack while manning an observation post known as Checkpoint 7, south of Beirut International Airport (BIA), near the suburb known as Ash Shuwayfat. 2/8 had arrived in Beirut weeks earlier as part of the 22nd Marine Amphibious Unit (MAU) to relieve 1/8, having been delayed due to their participation in Operation Urgent Fury (invasion of Grenada).
The fighting positions at Checkpoint 7 were on top of two small 2 story buildings; the usable space of the rooftop locations measuring roughly 9’x12′ each. The firefight lasted from approximately 1930 that evening until shortly after 2200. During the course of the action Sgt Cox controlled organic fires from 2/8’s assets, including small arms, mortars, artillery, 105mm tank main guns, as well as TOW and Dragon ATGMs.
As the firefight progressed other Marines in Cox’s squad rushed upstairs to assist their buddies and gain better fields of fire. Shortly after 2200 either a 120mm mortar round or a 122 rocket impacted on the position. Nine Marines were killed, and two others on the roof were wounded.
Source: White House Commission on Remembrance, North Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs
David Donald Berdahl, age 19, from Ward County Minot, North Dakota .
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Thursday, January 20, 1972
Death details: On January 20, 1972, a UH-1H Iroquois (tail number 69-16717) carrying four crew and four passengers took off on a recovery mission for downed U.S. pilots. The aircraft was returning from the rescue mission when it was hit by enemy ground fire southeast of Khe Sanh combat base in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. The aircraft caught fire and crash landed on the bank of the Rao Quan River, in the vicinity of (GC) XD 883 408. A rescue crew member observed an individual from the loss aircraft pinned face down in the burning wreckage, but was unable to extricate him. Hostile forces in the area prevented further rescue attempts at the crash site, and two members of the crew remain unaccounted for. Private First Class David Donald Berdahl, who joined the U.S. Army from North Dakota, was a member of Troop D, 3rd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He was a door gunner aboard the UH-1H when it went down, and was lost with the aircraft. His remains were not recovered following the incident. Today, Private First Class Berdahl is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed along with all his fallen comrades on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.
Source: National Archives, Bismarck Tribune (1972), Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
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)
Roger Lee Svir, age 20, from Park River, North Dakota, Walsh county.
Parents: Albert Svir
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Sunday, September 26, 1971
Death details: Non-hostile death
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1971)
Steven Reed Hanson, age 21, from Dazney, North Dakota, Barnes county.
Parents: Chaplain and Mrs. Gordon Hanson
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, September 24, 1971
Source: National Archives, Bismarck Tribune (1971)
Alan Rolf Hinzpeter, age 22, from Minot, North Dakota, Ward county. Their last known residence was in James G. Hinzpeter.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, September 6, 1971
Death details: Killed in action
Source: National Archives, Minneapolis Star Tribune (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)
Larry Bruce Jacobson, age 21, from North Dakota, Renville county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Wednesday, August 26, 1970
Source: National Archives