State Heroes
Vietnam

Specialist 4 Eric Daryl Nadeau
Grand Forks, ND
Vietnam
Branch of Service: Army
Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Company B
Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent: 1st Battalion
Regiment / Group / Brigade: 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment
Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent: 101st Airborne Division
Date of Loss: May 26, 1969 / Age: 20
Killed in action in Quang Tin, South Vietnam by hostile small arms fire.

Boiler Technician 3rd Class Joseph Dennis Fischer
Zeeland, ND
Vietnam
Branch of Service: Navy
Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: USS King
Date of Loss: May 23, 1969 / Age: 20
Four Boilermen died, and fifteen other crewmen were injured, during an engineering casualty and subsequent fire in the Tonkin Gulf off Vietnam at 2152 hours, Friday, 23 May 1969.

Corporal David James Kuhn
Vietnam
Branch of Service: Army
Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Company C
Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent: 3rd Battalion
Regiment / Group / Brigade: 196th Light Infantry Brigade
Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent: 21st Infantry Division
Date of Loss: May 23, 1969 / Age: 19
Corporal Kuhn was killed in action through hostile actions in Quang Tin, South Vietnam.

Private First Class Gene Thomas Gietzen
Glen Ullin, ND
Vietnam
Branch of Service: Marines
Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Company A
Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent: 1st Battalion
Regiment / Group / Brigade: 7th Marine Regiment
Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent: 1st Marine Division
Date of Loss: May 21, 1969 / Age: 19
Southeast of Hill 55 near the hamlet of Chau Lau in Dien Ban District during Operation OKLAHOMA HILLS, a Marine patrol tripped a wire which was connected to a claymore type AP (anti-personnel) mine causing an explosion.

Sergeant Douglas G. Dally
Vietnam
Branch of Service: Air Force
Date of Loss: May 18, 1969 / Age: 23
Died in service

Staff Sergeant Leon David Cox
Jamestown, ND
Vietnam
Branch of Service: Army
Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent: 8th Battalion
Regiment / Group / Brigade: 6th Artillery Regiment
Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent: 1st Infantry Division
Date of Loss: May 17, 1969 / Age: 35
Killed in action in Binh Duong, South Vietnam in hostile action by an explosive device.

Specialist 4 Merlin James Laber
Vietnam
Branch of Service: Army
Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Company C
Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent: 1st Battalion
Regiment / Group / Brigade: 198th Light Infantry Brigade
Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent: 46th Infantry Division
Date of Loss: May 14, 1969 / Age: 21
Killed in action through hostile small arms fire in Quang Tin, South Vietnam.

Staff Sergeant James Claire Kopseng
Vietnam
Branch of Service: Army
Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Company D
Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent: 1st Battalion
Regiment / Group / Brigade: 35th Infantry Regiment
Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent: 4th Infantry Division
Date of Loss: May 14, 1969 / Age: 21
Sergeant Kopseng was Killed in Action by a hostile explosive device in Pleiku, South Vietnam.

Warrant Officer 1st Class Roy Stephen Thomas
Vietnam
Branch of Service: Army
Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Company B
Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent: 25th Aviation Battalion
Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent: 25th Infantry Division
Date of Loss: May 10, 1969 / Age: 22
Roy was killed when his helicopter crashed in Vietnam.

Specialist 4 Gerald Frank Coulthart
Hamilton, ND
Vietnam
Branch of Service: Army
Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Battery B
Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent: 1st Battalion
Regiment / Group / Brigade: 30th Artillery Regiment
Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent: 1st Cavalry Division (Air Mobile)
Date of Loss: April 28, 1969 / Age: 21
Killed in action in Tay Ninh, South Vietnam in hostile action through multiple fragmentation wounds.

1st Lieutenant John Morris Joyce
Minot, ND
Vietnam
Branch of Service: Marines
Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Company K
Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent: 3rd Battalion
Regiment / Group / Brigade: 26th Marines Regiment
Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent: 3rd Marine Division
Date of Loss: April 17, 1969 / Age: 24
In April the Battalion was participating in Operation OKLAHOMA HILLS under the OPCON (Operational Control) of the 7th Marines, and on April 17 Company K discovered an NVA Base Camp just north of Hill 1050 (Nui Doi Dat) in the Thuong Duc District of Qua

Specialist 5 Gerald Anthony Decker
Sentinel Butte, ND
Vietnam
Branch of Service: Army
Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Company D
Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent: 1st Battalion
Regiment / Group / Brigade: 5th Infantry Regiment
Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent: 25th Infantry Division
Date of Loss: April 10, 1969 / Age: 20
On April 10, 1969, at 0240 hours, a Spooky Gunship was operating near the Company B night perimeter. At 0428 hours, Company B reported that they had one Bobcat killed and two wounded from stray rounds from the Spooky Gunship and needed a Dust-off.

Sergeant Stanley John Ottmar
Burt, ND
Vietnam
Branch of Service: Army
Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Company D
Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent: 1st Battalion
Regiment / Group / Brigade: 7th Cavalry Regiment
Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent: 1st Calvary Division
Date of Loss: April 10, 1969 / Age: 19
Killed in action in Bien Hoa, South Vietnam through hostile small arms fire.

Specialist 4 Randy Lee Hansen
Williston, ND
Vietnam
Branch of Service: Army
Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: 596th Signal Company
Regiment / Group / Brigade: 1st Signal Brigade
Date of Loss: April 06, 1969 / Age: 20
He died in service in Thua Thien, South Vietnam through non-hostile action in a car crash.

Captain David Arlen Waldera
Fargo, ND
Vietnam
Branch of Service: Army
Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Company A
Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent: Army Spt Command Saigon
Regiment / Group / Brigade: Army Depot Long Binh
Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent: 1st Logistics Command
Date of Loss: April 02, 1969 / Age: 24
Captain Waldera died Apr 2, 1969 at the age of 24 from wounds he sustained at Bien Hoa Province, South Vietnam.