Our State Heroes page is updated regularly as we discover new information and continue to add North Dakota's heroes. Please contact us if you have information to add or update.
Criteria to determine inclusion on the State Heroes page: Location of burial or family residence at time of death, residence at time of enlistment, then place of birth.
Dates of conflict:
- Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF): March 19, 2003-August 31, 2010
- Operation New Daw (OND): September 1, 2010-December 15, 2011
- Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR): October 15, 2014-present day
Photos and data primarily retrieved from Military Times - Honor the Fallen, https://thefallen.militarytimes.com/
Dates of conflict:
- Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF): October 7, 2001-December 28, 2014
- Operation Freedom's Sentinel (OFS): January 1, 2015-August 31, 2021
Photos and data primarily retrieved from Military Times - Honor the Fallen, https://thefallen.militarytimes.com/
Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm
Dates of conflict: August 2, 1990 - January 2, 1992
Data and photo retrieved from the USAFA Graduate Memorial Wall.
Operation Just Cause
Dates of conflict: December 21, 1989-February 13, 1990
Data retrieved from Military Times Hall of Valor and Find the Data | Peacetime Military Casualties
Lebanon: 1982-1983
Dates of conflict: August 5, 1964 - May 7, 1975
The total casualty count for North Dakota's Vietnam War heroes is 238. 18 MIA/POW of which 9 have been recovered.
The Vietnam Era Book of ND Veterans (includes all ND Veterans).
Visit the Vietnam War Resources website for more information about Vietnam.
Photos retrieved from Virtual Vietnam Veterans Wall of Faces. Data primarily retrieved from: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall USA, Find a Grave, Military Times Hall of Valor
Dates of conflict: June 27, 1950 - January 31, 1955
The total casualty count for North Dakota's Korean War heroes is 190.
The WWII and Korea Book of ND Veterans (includes all ND Veterans).
Data retrieved from: Find the Data | Korean War Casualties, The Korean War Project, Find a Grave (photos also retrieved from this site), The 35th Infantry Regiment Association (photos also retrieved from this site), the Military Times Hall of Valor, and Military Hall of Honor.
Dates of conflict: December 7, 1941 - December 31, 1946
The WWII and Korea Book of ND Veterans (includes all ND Veterans).
Data primarily retrieved from The National Archives (Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard), American Battle Monuments Commission and The National Archives (Army and Air Force).
Dates of conflict: July 28, 1914 – November 11, 1918
"World War I caused change in North Dakota and the rest of the world. After the outbreak of war in Europe July 28,1914 the state was reluctant in having the United States enter the war. Whether it was because one-fifth of the state's population were German immigrants or not, many North Dakotans were isolationists, not wanting to be involved in someone else's war so far away. After the United States broke ties and declared war on Germany, the state rallied in support of the war effort. Many young men went to war, which left a shortage of farm laborers in the state which was promoting the planting of every possible acre in order to help feed the world during the war. Inflation was high and so were grain prices, but unfortunately, below average rainfall caused below average crop yields during the war years."
A tight-knit German community existed in North Dakota. This community consisted of/descended from German migrants from Russia. Russia had invited Germans to settle and introduce advanced farming methods to the area around the Volga in the 18th century; these Germans migrated to America when Russia began to decrease their autonomy and to assimilate them in the late 19th century. This community was the target of anti-German persecution throughout the war.
Over 28,000 North Dakotans went to war; 474 were killed in battle.
Data and pictures primarily retrieved from Faces From the Wall, American Battle Monuments Commission, World War I Centennial Commemoration and World War I in Photos: A Century Later.
In the fall of 1918 the University of North Dakota suffered the unimaginable loss of twenty-seven members of its Student Army Training Corps. These young men were victims of the Flu Pandemic that swept through Grand Forks during that dreadful fall and all but one died on the university campus during October and November of 1918.
Dates of conflict: February 4, 1899 - July 4, 1902
The 1st North Dakota Volunteer Infantry Regiment was mustered into the federal service at Fargo, North Dakota between May 13 and 16, 1898. At the time of mustering in, the regiment consisted of twenty-seven officers and 658 enlisted men. The regiment departed Fargo on may 26, bound for San Francisco, California, where it arrived four days later. On June 28, Company H boarded the transport INDIANA and the remainder of the regiment boarded the VALENCIA bound for Manila, in the Philippine Islands.
The regiment was mustered out of service on September 25, 1899 at San Francisco. At the time of mustering out, the regiment consisted of thirty-one officers, and 507 enlisted men. The regiment had 6 enlisted men killed in action, and one man who later died of his wounds. In addition, nine men died from disease, one man drowned and one man was killed in an accident. One officer was wounded in action as were thirteen enlisted men. Eighteen men were discharged on disability. The regiment suffered no desertions.
Data retrieved from: Alexander Louden Recalls his Service, The ND National Guard Historian website and these documents; An Abbreviated History of the North Dakota National Guard and The ND Guard in the Spanish American War
Dates of conflict: April 21, 1898 – December 10, 1898
The North Dakota National Guard in the Spanish-American War
Fragments of History - State Historical Society of North Dakota