You cannot tell the story of North Dakota without hearing the accounts of veterans. We’ve featured the stories of Maurice Bonemeyer, Andrew W. Shaw, Herald Tastad, and Russell Plesuk on this site, but Dakota Attitude is chockful of the accounts of veterans. They tell of their departures and homecomings. Their wives and families tell of life while they were gone. Survivors talk about those do did not return.
In honor of the service of many North Dakotas, for Veterans Day we’ve add three more stories of those who fought and died, and of the loved ones they left behind. Meet Conrad Newgren, Shirley (Brekke) Haroldson, and Raphael “Ray” and Lois (Judisch) Frost.
If you’re hungry for even more stories of veterans, here is an additional sampling of the stories from and about veterans or North Dakotans whose lives were touched by war. Pull out your copy of Dakota Attitude and find them in the index. And if you don’t have a copy, here’s how to find one.
- Pat Eng – Sanger, ND – All Six Eng Boys Were in War
- Charles “Chuck” German – Ludden, ND – Everyone Raised Their Hands
- Marlene (Himle) Heath – Landa, ND – First Time She Saw Her Husband, “I Was Sunk”
- Richard Lorenz – Langdon, ND – Wet, Scared, and Praying
- John “Jack” Martin – Munich, ND – “I Took Off Running to See Him”
- Gary J. Nelson – Stanley, ND – 9/11 Terrorist Attack Takes His Daughter
- Ralph Oehlke – Enderlin, ND – Decorated for His Service
- Jerome “Joe” Poesch – Argusville, ND – “It Stopped the War, and I’m Alive”
- Harold J. Rensch – Garrison, ND – A Prisoner of War Comes Home
- Russell “Ginger” and Verlee (Sevalson) Snyder – Van Hook, ND – The Baby Recognized Daddy
- Douglas Townsend – LaMoure, ND – Fought Many Battles
- Leo A. Verville – Walhalla, ND – Round Trip on the Queen Mary
- Robert “Bob” Wheeling – Plaza, ND – POW Returns Home in a Blizzard
- Ray Winklander – Washburn, ND – Survived a Kamikaze Attack
We hope you enjoy these stories of heroes. We thank them for their service.
