S LUTE
VETERANS DAY 2024
Honoring those lost but never forgotten
SERVICE OFFICER FINDS PURPOSE THROUGH HELPING OTHERS
Crow Wing County Veterans Service Officer Erik Flowers has served his country and continues to serve his community, helping veterans find the resources they need.
SOLDIER, FATHER AND FRIEND
Breezy Point veteran helps a daughter learn about the father she never met
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CONTENTS ‘24
On the cover:
The honor guard carrying the flag at the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery in Little Falls on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, during a ceremony honoring Brainerd soldier Gerald J. Bell, who was killed in action on Bataan during World War II. Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch
Features
HONORING THOSE LOST BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN • 6
By Tim Speier, Brainerd Dispatch
S LUTE
CONTACT US: Advertising@BrainerdDispatch.com (218) 855-5895 ATTN: Salute Brainerd Dispatch, 506 James St., Brainerd, MN 56401
Veterans Day Salute is an annual publication of the Brainerd Dispatch and PineandLakes Echo Journal.
Copyright© 2013 VOLUME 12, FALL 2024
To protect their retreat, two volunteers were sought to set up a machine gun position at the far end of a bridge. They gave their lives so others may live.
CROW WING
COUNTY’S VETERAN SERVICE OFFICER FINDS PURPOSE THROUGH HELPING OTHERS • 12
By Tim Speier, Brainerd Dispatch
Crow Wing County Veterans Service Officer Erik Flowers has served his country and continues to serve his community, helping veterans find the resources they need.
SOLDIER, FATHER AND FRIEND • 16
By Tom Fraki, Echo Journal
Breezy Point veteran helps a daughter learn about the father she never met.
Local photo submissions of Brainerd lakes area veterans — past and present. Also in this issue
August “Jeff” Bender. Contributed
BY TIM SPEIER Brainerd Dispatch
Honoring those lost but never forgotten
On Dec. 26, 1941, deep in the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines, two men volunteered to hold a bridge and provide covering fire for a retreat. They were never heard from or seen alive again.
Their names were Pfc. Gerald J. Bell and Pvt. August “Jeff” Bender.
Almost 83 years later, on Sept. 23, 2024, Bell was given proper honors and a place of rest at the Little Falls Veterans Cemetery during a dedication ceremony thanks to the hard work and dedication of his great-niece Dottie Bisted.
“On behalf of the family, we would like to thank you all for coming,” Bisted said. “Uncle Gerald was my grandma’s little brother. She always said he was a prankster and spoke of her baby brother with fond memories. She was so proud of her baby brother that she named one of her sons after him, my dad, who was born in August of 1941. So while Gerald knew about my dad, he was never able to meet him, although he thought it was great that there was another Gerald in the family.”
Bisted said not having a place to honor Bell was difficult for the family, especially after learning of the heroic choice her great uncle and Bender volunteered for, knowing that they would likely be killed.
Gerald J. Bell. Contributed
Gerald J. Bell’s headstone at Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery in Little Falls on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch
Brainerd Public Schools archivist John Erickson has been working on preserving local history and compiled an account of Bell and Bender’s actions leading up to and during World War II. This retelling is taken from his historical account, military records and the family’s recollection of the events.
Born in Crow Wing County to James Bell and Vietta (Dottie) Barker-Bell on July 14, 1922, Bell, a twin, was the sixth of eight children. He had brown eyes and brown curly hair. And according to his siblings, he was a prankster and a “little devil.” He used to talk his twin sister Geraldine into giving him all the toys.
Bell was very close to his twin and they even had their own language. Family members recall when they were around 3 or 4 years old, they needed to be separated for 24 hours, so they would talk to others.
Bell attended Krech School and went on to Washington High School. As was not uncommon for the time, he left high school during his sophomore year to provide for the family and got a job at Northwest Paper Co.
Four months after turning 17, he lied about his age and enlisted in the Army in 1940, joining the Minnesota National Guard’s 34th Tank Company, located in the Brainerd National Guard Armory.
On Feb. 5, 1941, Bell became a United States soldier in the federalized 194th Tank Battalion. Company A departed from Brainerd in February of 1941 for training.
Bell graduated from the Armored Force School at Fort Knox, Kentucky, as a radio operator on Aug. 2, 1941, and was assigned as a radioman and assistant tank driver. Bender and Bell were accompanied by about 60 other men of Brainerd’s Company A, 194th Tank Battalion.
After initial combat on, International Dateline adjusted, Dec. 7, 1941, it was forebodingly quiet. That ended Dec. 24 with the order to evacuate fixed defensive positions and to disappear into the jungle, as the Japanese forces were coming.
Late on Dec. 24, the 192nd and 194th tankers formed a defensive line along a river and road. The 192nd Tank Battalion then received orders to withdraw, but the 194th remained. The 194th tanks and crews extracted heavy Japanese losses that day, but also suffered losses as the Japanese advanced to a crucial river crossing. Then the order came: Retreat.
Ultimately, Company A, 194th Tank Battalion, including Bell and Bender, were informed that to escape into the Bataan Peninsula, they would have to fight their way out.
To protect the retreat of the 194th, two volunteers were sought to set up a machine gun position at the far end of a bridge, which the approaching Japanese Army was expected to cross in pursuit of the retreating tanks.
Bell and Bender volunteered.
The honor guard presents Gerald J. Bell’s flag to his great-niece Dottie Bisted at Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery in Little Falls on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024.
Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch
As Company A began a fighting retreat into the Bataan Peninsula, the Japanese Army suffered heavy casualties from Bell’s and Bender’s machine guns, but ultimately Bell and Bender were surrounded and were killed by Japanese fire.
Bell was 19 years old, Bender 22. Bell was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. His posthumous Purple Heart, awarded on Sept. 18, 1945, states Bell was wounded in action, resulting in his death on Dec. 26, 1941.
It was not until Oct. 12, 1945, that Bell’s parents received a telegram from the War Department informing them that he had died in action.
Bender’s mother passed away on Aug. 28, 1945, never having learned of her son’s fate. Ten days after her death, Bender’s family learned that he, too, was killed in action.
The 194th and others engaged the enemy for four months, buying America time to regroup before all were ordered by their command to surrender on April 9, 1942. Those soldiers who survived were then forcibly marched through the Phillipines over about 65 miles in brutal conditions. Those who couldn’t march were beaten, killed and sometimes beheaded, the National WWII Museum reported. It became known as the Bataan Death March.
Photo of Gerald J. Bell, highlighted, and the rest of his unit while at Camp Ripley in 1940. Contributed
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“Remember Bataan, Never Forget”
The march was followed by three years of deathly captivity by all who survived. They were faced with disease and starvation, including transport to forced labor camps in Asia.
Bisted said it was not until she attended another memorial service for Julius St. John Knudsen that she learned having a headstone for someone who was missing in action was even possible.
Having received his service records, Bisted said she sent the paperwork to the
Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery on July 1, 2024. On July 3, she learned because Bell hadn’t received any military honors after his death, they would be provided.
“It’s a huge relief,” Bisted said. “I mean, it’s been something that had bothered us for 83 years. We didn’t have a place for him. It bothered my grandmother, his sister, and his my great-aunt, Geraldine, his twin, and the other siblings.”
Bisted said Bell is the only one, out of 150 plus members of her family, on both
her mom’s and dad’s side, who served and did not make it home and did not have a place to honor him.
Though the family attends the Bataan memorials and often lay flowers for him next to his parents grave, “We are now able to honor him the way he deserves to be honored,” Bisted said. “And my father would be very appreciative to know that now, he has a place.”
Presiding over the dedication, Chaplin Eusebia Rios, retired United States Air Force major, asked a higher power to “Look upon the families with great compassion, fill the days and moments to come with peace and faith, hope and love. We stand among heroes. We hang among brothers and sisters who have served in our armed forces, and we remember.”
“Remember Bataan, Never Forget”
218-855-5859 or email tim.speier@ brainerddispatch.com.
Portrait of a WWII soldier
Written by great niece Dottie Bisted What do you call someone who leaves school as a sophomore to work and help pay the bills? Do you call them NOBLE? We call him Uncle Gerald. What do you call someone who lies about their age to serve their country when the world is under attack? Do you call them COURAGEOUS? We call him Uncle Gerald. What do you call someone who volunteers to hold a bridge so others can fall back? Do you call them BRAVE? We call him Uncle Gerald. What do you call someone who won’t leave a wounded friend to save their own life? Do you call them HERO? We call him Uncle Gerald. What do you call someone whose family won’t believe the news of their death years later? Do you call them LOVED? We call him Uncle Gerald. What do you call someone who was all this and so much more? Do you call them SOLDIER? We call him Uncle Gerald!
Gerald J. Bell was greatly missed by his parents, James and Dottie: brothers William and George Bell; sisters Mae Whirley, Agnes Bisted, Hazel Laitila and Cassie Isle; twin Geraldine Tusler. He is also honored and remembered today by many nieces, nephews and their families.
BY TIM SPEIER Brainerd Dispatch
Crow Wing County’s
Veteran Service Officer finds purpose through
helping others
Erik Flowers talks about how he ended up working as the Crow Wing County Veterans Service Officer on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. Tim Speier / Brainerd Dispatch
BRAINERD — Sometimes, it takes a veteran to truly understand what another veteran is going through.
For the past five years, Crow Wing County Veterans Service Officer Erik Flowers has helped hundreds of veterans get connected with the Department of Veterans Affairs and Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs.
The Minnesota Association of County Veterans Service Officers is a professional, statewide organization made up of over 145 specially trained and certified Veterans Advocates known as County Veterans Service Officers. They work collaboratively with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs, and Nationally chartered Veterans Service Organizations to promote the interests and welfare of U.S. Armed Forces Veterans, their family members and survivors.
“We’re like the Swiss Army knife of the veteran community and organizations,” Flowers said. “We don’t have personal funding to give out to veterans, but we help find resources for them. Both state and federal.”
Flowers took over the job in 2019 after Bob Nelson retired, following more than two decades of service to the veteran community. That service is something that drew Flowers to apply for the job.
Growing up on a hobby farm about 5 miles outside of Litchfield, Flowers — the youngest of three siblings — said he helped his parents work about 300 acres of corn, beans and animals.
“I just grew up running around, playing army in the woods and getting chores done and all that type of stuff,” Flowers said. “Wrestling and football. Yeah, those were my main sports.”
Flowers said as a kid, when not working on the farm, he could be found out on the lake fishing or in the woods hunting. Though he has less time now, Flowers tries to make time each year to head to Colorado for a hunt.
Flowers said he became interested in the military during high school in Litchfield. He had a wrestling coach, Charles “Chip” Rankin, who was in the National Guard at the time.
“When he came into the wrestling room the discipline, the hard work, the teamwork — it all appealed to me. This is what we needed as a team. I love this type of structure. It turned our team from never, ever going to state before in the history of Litchfield to going into state and taking second place, the first year that we went to state as a team.”
The Litchfield Independent Review wrote in January of 2023, Lt. Col. Charles “Chip” Rankin took command of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 34th Red Bull Infantry Division.
Flowers said he thought about going active duty, though he wanted to go to college and gain some different life experiences, so he joined the National Guard his junior year of high school.
Waiting to go to boot camp until after his senior year of high school, Flowers drilled in Willmar with the engineer battalion.
Following boot camp and advanced individual training in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, in 2002, Flowers was assigned as a human resource specialist 682nd Engineer Battalion out of Willmar.
When asked about choosing his job assignment, Flowers laughed and said there are only a few jobs available for those who are red and green colorblind.
Flowers volunteered in 2003 for a deployment in Kosovo as part of a NATO peacekeeping mission. He said they deployed in 2004 as a type of police force to help keep the peace between local ethnic groups.
While doing the workup for deployment, Flowers said he met a girl. Staying in touch while in Kosovo, he knew he had met the woman of his dreams, and when he got home, he went out and bought a ring. Flowers married his wife, Tahnee, on July 30, 2005.
After they were married, Flowers said they lived in southwest Minnesota and
his wife had a teaching opportunity at Central Lakes College, so they chose to leave the flatlands and move up to the Brainerd lakes area in 2006.
Looking for something fulfilling, he applied to work in the Crow Wing County Jail as a corrections officer.
“I enjoyed it. You know, I initially had full intentions, like, this is where I’m going to retire from,” Flowers said.
Flowers began working for the county in 2007 as a correctional officer and was promoted to sergeant at the county jail in 2009.
Also in 2009, Flowers’ wife was pregnant with their first child and he was coming up on a big decision. With nine years in, he had to decide whether he would reenlist in the military or not. If he decided to stay in, he would be over halfway to retirement and would stay the full 20.
Flowers did not want to miss milestones of having a child and all they would accomplish because of a deployment and made the tough decision to leave the military.
“I’m a family guy, and I knew I’d find something else that would fill that void,” Flowers said. “So, I decided not to reenlist and got out of the Guard about 20 days prior to my daughter being born.”
“So I think serving others is in my DNA, in any way that I can do that.”
Looking to get some camaraderie that he missed from the military and looking to help out his community, Flowers joined the Brainerd Fire Department in 2016 as a volunteer firefighter.
While working at a career fair for the Crow Wing County Jail, another Crow Wing County recruiter at the same fair informed him of the opening for a county veterans service officer.
“So I thought about it for a while, and I applied, and amongst my surprise, I was one of the top contendants and ended up getting the position,” Flowers said. “I feel like it’s my purpose right now. It fills in the gaps of my why and now I look forward to coming to work all the time.”
He was appointed as the VSO by the Crow Wing County Board in May 2019.
“It’s definitely rewarding helping veterans who had no idea what their benefits are, just like I was at one point,”
Erik Flowers
Flowers said. “We help with navigating the VA system and getting them service connection, getting them health care, helping them out with rent, with different organizations out there, dental vouchers.”
From helping a few hundred veterans a year obtain the benefits they are entitled to getting help through community organizations, Flowers said this job gives him purpose. He encourages all veterans to apply for the benefits they are entitled to.
“No matter what, you’re not taking away from another veteran by getting your benefits,” Flowers said. “In fact, you’re actually helping other veterans out because funding is done based on numbers. So the more people that are showing the need for those benefits, the more it’s going to get funded.”
Though out of the military for many years now, he, like many veterans, said he misses the lifestyle and people in the
military. Though finding one’s purpose in life makes living it that much better.
“There are things that I miss about the military, and you hear them stories, and you’re like, that would have been pretty cool,” Flowers said. “You know, life experiences. I found something to replace that. I got hired on the Brainerd Fire Department as a firefighter. And it’s that same type of camaraderie and adrenaline and service to our community that definitely gives me purpose. So I think serving others is in my DNA, in any way that I can do that.”
TIM SPEIER, staff writer, can be reached on X@timmy2thyme, call 218-855-5859 or email tim.speier@ brainerddispatch.com.
Soldier, father and friend
BY TOM FRAKI Echo Journal
Breezy Point veteran helps a daughter learn about the father she never met
BREEZY POINT — When Jo Lynn Reed started her search to find out more about her birth parents, she didn’t know what she expected to learn.
Through confirmation from her biological mother, Reed learned that AV Spikes, who served as a specialist fourth class in the U.S. Army and died in Vietnam in 1966, was her birth father.
“I had a friend who helped me chase it down through genealogy, it was Ancestry. She found my birth mother because of her name. But when I did the genealogy, she helped trace it all the way back and found out that Mr. Spikes was my father. Then I got confirmation of that from my birth mother,” Reed said.
Reed, who is from Huntsville, Alabama, and worked as a detention officer and security guard, was placed for adoption when she was 3 days old. She said her adoptive parents were a blessing, but she wanted to learn more about her genealogy and her biological parents. Reed was born in March 1965 and was 14 months old when her birth father died serving in Vietnam.
In January 2021, Reed posted a message to AV Spikes’ remembrance page on the Wall of Faces website for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. In her post, she wrote:
“You would be 81 today. You were my birth Father, you were killed defending our country and I thank you for your ultimate sacrifice. I wish I could’ve met you. The daughter you never met - Jo Lynn Reed.”
Jo Lynn Reed and Cliff Muller are shown at Muller’s hangar at the Breezy Point Airport on Aug. 16, 2024. Tom Fraki / Echo Journal
A little more than three years later in April 2024, Cliff Muller, of Breezy Point and who served with Spikes, saw Reed’s post and wrote one of his own.
“My name is Sergeant Cliff Muller. I was with A V Spikes for one year. He was rotating home to board a helicopter on LZ (Landing Zone) Hereford to go back to base camp to get his final gear to return home when LZ Hereford was overrun and sadly, his life was taken that tragic day in Binh Dinh Province. Spikes was an absolutely great guy and I miss him to this day. It was a very extremely sad day. I welcome calls from platoon members and family members. Jo Lynn Reed, if you’re reading this, please give me a call,” Muller wrote and included his phone number.
After eventually seeing what Muller posted, Reed considered his offer and reached out to him.
“It was about a week before Memorial Day weekend that I found (his post). He posted in April, and then I just happened to pull it up and found it. I called him on Memorial Day, and we’ve been talking ever since,” Reed said.
Muller said it was through a friend that he learned about the Wall of Faces website and found Spikes’ remembrance page.
A remembrance display for AV Spikes made by Cliff Muller. Muller presented the display for the first time at the Breezy Point Airport’s annual Aviation Days in 2024. Tom Fraki / Echo Journal
“My friend in Arizona was putting faces on the wall (for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial), and she asked me, ‘Well, do you know anybody there?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, my friend Spikes.’ I guess it all built from there,” he said. “What a unique opportunity. It was a one-in-a-million chance of us getting in touch.”
Muller offered to have Reed visit him at his home, and on Aug. 15 Muller drove to Minneapolis to pick her up from the airport and have her spend the weekend in Breezy Point.
While they talked at his home, Muller shared his experiences serving with Spikes in Vietnam.
“I didn’t know him before I was drafted. He was regular Army. I think he had been in the Army about five years. He was what they called a forward observer; he directed artillery. He was with our line company with
Muller told Reed stories from both in and out of combat that he and Spikes had gone through while they were in the war. He said Spikes was a humble person and a true soldier.
Muller said that while it was difficult to bring up some of his memories, it also helped to process and be at peace with some of what he experienced.
“You try and piece it together later, and you don’t even know what your mind saw. Things like that happen, and you have to turn it off and keep going. Because you can’t dwell on those things,” he said.
Reed said she had no way of knowing if Spikes knew about her while he was in Vietnam, and Muller said he couldn’t recall talking to Spikes about her.
“I keep trying to shake my mind of what Spikes and I talked about. But when you’re in combat, you’re trying to stay alive and help your other comrades stay alive,” Muller said.
Muller was grateful that Reed was so receptive to visiting and hearing about what he and her birth father experienced during the war.
“I’m so happy to share Spikes’ life that I had with him with you. You never know
the infantry, and he would call in fire missions. We were on that LZ when he was waiting for a helicopter to get sent back to base camp,” Muller said.
Jo Lynn Reed, left, is presented with a folded American flag from Veterans Services Specialist Kim Jensen on Aug. 16, 2024.
Tom Fraki / Echo Journal
“This has been a real find for me. It’s a very emotional thing, and for her as well. This meeting is just unbelievable. It’s really, really special.”
Sgt. Cliff Muller
how people are going to receive this, and I’m sure it was hard for you. I was worried that we couldn’t talk to you. But you’re very open, and I love that,” he told her.
During Reed’s visit to Breezy Point, Muller helped arrange to have Crow Wing County Veterans Services present her with an American flag on Aug. 16. Veterans Services Specialist Kim Jensen and former Brainerd VFW Post Commander Dave Meyer came to Muller’s home to talk to Reed and present her with the flag.
“On May 21, 1966, Specialist E4 Spikes was declared a casualty of the Vietnam War. He served with honor in the United States Army, and he is remembered by the people of the United States of America, Mississippi and Minnesota. From a grateful nation,
please accept this, and may his positive example inspire all of us working together toward peace, mutual respect and equality for all. Thank you,” Jensen said to Reed while presenting the flag.
Jensen said they would work with Reed to help her get duplicates of Spikes’ dog tags and any medals he received.
“I would appreciate it if you would stay in touch and keep us updated on your life. You’re part of a family,” Jensen told Reed regarding Spikes’ service to his country.
Reed said the whole experience of meeting Muller and being able to learn more about her birth father meant a lot to her, and she appreciated everyone’s contributions.
Muller said he was happy to get the chance to preserve the history of his experiences and give some closure to his memories.
“I was so happy to connect with her because Spikes is a very important person in my Vietnam experience. I want to share it before something happens to me, and that history is gone,” Muller said.
“This has been a real find for me. It’s a very emotional thing, and for her as well. This meeting is just unbelievable. It’s really, really special,” he said.
Shortly after her visit to Breezy Point, Reed made the trip to Mississippi to see her birth father’s gravesite for the first time.
TOM FRAKI, staff writer for the PineandLakes Echo Journal newspaper, can be reached at 218-855-5863 or tom. fraki@pineandlakes.com. Follow him on Facebook.
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GREG TOMBERLIN ARMY 1969-1971
JASON PRICE MARINES & ARMY GUARDS 1997-2003, 2003-2005
DAVID TREES AIR FORCE 1965-1969
KEN MICKO AIR CORP 1942-1945 DECEASED 2/17/2023
DENNIS G. HAVEL ARMY 1967-1968; VIETNAM
DARWIN TREES ARMY/NATIONAL GUARD 1960-1986 DECEASED 1986
CORY WILLIAMS AIR FORCE 2015-2019
EUGENE MUNSON NAVY WWII DECEASED
JACKSON KNAPP MARINES 2016-2021
MILTON MUNSON NAVY 1942-1945; WWII DECEASED 6/1/1977
DOUGLAS STENBERG ARMY 1975-1995
JEFF KNAPP MARINES 2008-2012; AFGANISTAN
OSCAR MARSCH ARMY WWI DECEASED
LARRY D. HESTER AIR FORCE 1962-1979 DECEASED 4/13/2014
E. “LARRY” LAUGHLIN ARMY WWII DECEASED
JOELLE KNAPP MARINES 2018-2022
AVERY DERKSEN ARMY WWII, KOREA DECEASED 4/14/2020
LINDA L. PETERSON HESTER AIR FORCE 1962-1966
V. WHALEN ARMY WWII DECEASED
EARL KNAPP NAVY 1966-1967
ARNOLD DERKSEN ARMY CAVALRY WWI DECEASED 1965
ROBERT J. MENTH ARMY & RESERVES 1975-1977; 1977-1982
JOHN E MUNSON ARMY WWI DECEASED
RICHARD SMITH MARINES 1969-1971
DON WALKER ARMY 1959-1961
LAWRENCE
LEO
DONALD MCFARLAND ARMY VIETMAM
STEVEN M. WHALEN NAVY
BRIAN J. WHALEN AIR FORCE DESERT STORM
JOHN P. AKOTCHIK AIR FORCE 1950-1972 KOREA; VIETNAM; DECEASED 2/23/2009
WALTER F. HERMERDING AIR FORCE DECEASED 5/11/2020
RICHARD REZANKA ARMY 1917-1919; WWI DECEASED 8/2/1990
DAVE MEYER ARMY 1968-1969; VIETNAM
NICHOLAS D. CONDIFF AIR FORCE 2014-2020
DONALD WERMTER MARINES 1965-1969
RICHARD B. REZANKA AIR FORCE 1943-1945; WWII DECEASED 3/23/1992
RICK FARGO ARMY 1970-1973
PILLSBURY AIR FORCE
ROBERT J. CLARK AIR FORCE 1943-1945; WWII DECEASED 8/11/2018
VERNON FARGO ARMY 1943-1946 DECEASED 1/5/2019
JEFFERY A. MCCARTHY ARMY 1973-1976
HOWARD DELK AIR FORCE 1946-1949
BUNKER MARINES 1962-1966
T. REESE AIR FORCE 2003-2016
BORLE ARMY IRAQ 2002
RICHARD
ROBERT
BRIAN
CHIP
MITCHEL JOHNSON AIR FORCE 1953-1955; KOREA
ROJESKI NAVY 2018-PRESENT
M WILTSEY AIR FORCE VIETNAM DECEASED 11/28/21
WILLIAM SKEESICK ARMY WORLD WAR II DECEASED 11/29/2002
VOLKMUTH NAVY; USNR 1969-2007
FRANCIS
ARMY DECEASED 11/16/2014
ERICKSON NAVY DECEASED 11/1/1976
C AMUNDSON ARMY 1965-1969 DECEASED 7/12/2021
JEROME
VOLKMUTH
RYAN
TIMOTHY
CAROL VOLKMUTH NAVY
SCHUYLER VOLKMUTH NAVY
ELIJAH THELL AIR FORCE
KENNETH
GORDON
JOSEPH
EDWARD A. YURICK ARMY
JACK NORDLING MARINES WWII; KOREA; 21 YEARS OF SERVICE DECEASED 2002
DAVE BEIREIS NAVY VIETNAM
MARTIN (TED) TORKELSON ARMY WWII DECEASED 8/23/1998
JESSICA (NORDLING) BEIREIS MARINES 1965-1975; VIETNAM DECEASED 4/30/2013
DALE BEIREIS ARMY VIETNAM
TONY WENZEL ARMY/USAR/ARNG
MATT HAUGE ARMY 2016-PRESENT
SANDY STROM-GIESEKE AIR FORCE/AIR FORCE RESERVES 1967-1970; 1973-1994
ALVIN NELSON ARMY WWII DECEASED 10/2006
ANGIE KITZEROW AIR FORCE 2017-PRESENT
CHARLES R. JOHNSON ARMY 1952-1954 DECEASED 6/24/2010
NORMAN A. ANDERSON ARMY KOREAN WAR DECEASED 5/2022
DANIEL KITZEROW AIR FORCE 2015-PRESENT
RICHARD MENTOR JOHNSON ARMY 1918-1921; WWI DECEASED 6/25/1939
GARY PETERSON ARMY
BERNARD (BERNIE) HOLSAPPLE NAVY 1968-1977 DECEASED 12/28/2019
DAVID L SLIPP ARMY 1974-1995
MELISSA MATTHEWS AIR FORCE 2006-PRESENT
EDGAR L. SLIPP ARMY 1953-1955; KOREA DECEASED 9/7/1982
KEVIN MATTHEWS AIR FORCE 2005-PRESENT
ARTHUR J. TURNER MARINES 1967; VIETNAM DECEASED 2/27/1967
SCHILLER AIR FORCE DECEASED 6/1974
RICHARD H. ANDERSON MARINES 1959-1964 DECEASED 2/1/2020
AIR FORCE
JOHN D. BURTON NAVY 1966-1970; VIETNAM
JIM
BOB SCHILLER
BILL SCHILLER, III AIR FORCE
LANCE SCHMIDT MARINES
SHANNON SCHMIDT MARINES
JACK SCHMIDT MARINES
BRAD TAYLOR NAVY
BOBBI TAYLOR NAVY
WALLEY
PENNY JOHNSON
1965-1968 DECEASED 2023
DECEASED 2010
DECEASED 2022
ROBERT SPICER SR ARMY
GARY DAWSON ARMY 1966-1969
HAROLD PLIESEIS ARMY
DAN WALBERG ARMY
ROBERT JOHNSTON NAVY
GARY SCHMEISING NAVY
TIM ANDERSON MARINES
HERMAN KADING 1972-1976
GENE GAGNON COAST GUARD
ROGER OSTBERG NAVY
WAYNE WOLF MARINES
KARL FLIER NAVY
MIKE BONNISTER NATIONAL GUARD/ ARMY RESERVES DECEASED
HARLEY KAISER MERCHANT MARINES/ ARMY
CHARLES SCHMEISING NAVY
REYNOLD FORSETH NAVY
GAGNON ARMY RAY GAGNON COAST GUARD
HUBERT H. LANDREE ARMY
DECEASED 11/19/1993
JOHN ZAUHAR ARMY ENGLAND
DAVID LANDREE NAVY 1968-1972 VIETNAM; 1978-1994 NATIONAL GUARD
GEORGE ZAUHAR ARMY KOREAN WAR
BOB ZAUHAR ARMY PHILLIPINES
EMIL ZAUHAR ARMY FRANCE
J.
III ARMY DECEASED 9/26/2000
ZAUHAR ARMY GERMANY
ZAUHAR ARMY ITALY
JERRY THOMPSON ARMY
ROB SYKES ARMY
BILL TAYLOR ARMY
LEROY SCHUELKE ARMY
FRED KELLER NAVY
PETER
MICHAEL
ZAUHAR,
BILL
JOE
7/20/1993
10/8/1992
BARNEY LODIN NAVY GLEN VANHAVERMOT NATIONAL GUARD
GARY NIEMAND ARMY 1965-1967; VIETNAM
DALE VAN HORN, SR. NAVY 1965-1969
DALE VAN HORN, JR. NAVY & ARMY
EARL VAN HORN ARMY 1971-1973
ARTHUR VAN HORN NAVY 1965-1969 DECEASED
JIM TORVINEN NAVY
EUGENE TORVINEN NAVY DECEASED
EDWARD TORVINEN NAVY DECEASED
JOHN P. MARTIN ARMY & RESERVES 1946-1948; 1950-1951
RONALD CHISHOLM ARMY 1957-1960 DECEASED 1994
JOHN DAVID WAPPEL NAVY 1990-1994
EDWARD U. MARTIN ARMY & RESERVES 1946-1947; 1950-1951
JOHN MUHAR ARMY WWII DECEASED 2006
LAWERENCE S. OBERHAMER ARMY 1939-1942 DECEASED 7/16/2005
A. MARTIN ARMY & RESERVES
KNUDSEN NAVY WWII DECEASED 7/2009
ANDREW STEVE WAPPEL NAVY 1942-1945 & 1950-1952 DECEASED 9/14/2017
CHARLES J. MARTIN NATIONAL GUARD 1964-1968
ST. JOHN KNUDSEN ARMY WWII MIA 6/1942
DONALD STEHR US ARMY ENGINEERS 1968-1971; VIETNAM DECEASED 6/19/2024
MARTIN AIRFORCE 1975-1979
W. HOBSON NAVY AIR CORP WWII DECEASED 7/2022
TY LEVIG MARINES 2006-2014
MELVIN
WILBUR
JULIUS
JOSEPH
RONALD
JEROME MARSCHKE ARMY NATIONAL GUARD
AUSTIN JACOBSON ARMY 2018-2022
THOMAS SHALSKY NAVY DECEASED 2008
MAYO JOHN SINOTTE NAVY 1958-1962
BART SKALSKY ARMY
ARTHUR NYSTROM ARMY AIR CORP 1944-1945
ROLAND A. JOHNSON ARMY 1943-1945 DECEASED 6/21/2002
WILLIAM G. KUEHL ARMY AIR CORP WWII DECEASED 3/8/2004
ROY E. BOYES ARMY WWII DECEASED 2/14/1980
W. ANDERSON NAVY WWII DECEASED 9/27/2019
ALBERT M. ANDERSON ARMY WWI DECEASED 1/7/1959
TIM BRASTRUP ARMY 1970-1973
HOWARD
MARINES 1969-1972
NAVY 1962-1966
M. LENTZ AIR FORCE 1969-1973
ELROY A. RADDATZ ARMY 1955-1962 DECEASED 8/26/2017
GARY HILES MARINES 1966-1970; VIETNAM
WARBURTON ARMY/NATIONAL GUARD 1954-1994 DECEASED 1995
ARMY 1972-1975 DONALD WYNN ARMY 1967-1970; VIETNAM 1969
M. BOWMAN NAVY 1975-1979 LLOYD WYNN ARMY AIR FORCES 1943-1946; WWII DECEASED 12/23/2017
ANDERSEN ARMY 1962-1965
LYLE
LAURIE DALLY ARMY RESERVES 1981-2006
CHAD ERIC PERKINS NAVY 1995-1999
RICK BROWN ARMY 1968-1969
PAUL ROBYN LAYMAN MARINES 1999-2004
SETH OSBURNSEN NATIONAL GUARD 1997-2005
RANDY KEITH PERKINS NAVY 1965-1969 DECEASED 7/31/2019
SEALLUM HENRY GATES MARINES WWII DECEASED 4/16/1972
SHAWN BLAKEMORE NATIONAL GUARD 2013-2021
WILLIAM H. LATOUR MARINES 1967-1969
BILL HARTL MARINES 1965-1969; VIETNAM
EDWARD K. YARBROUGH ARMY 1965-1981 DECEASED 2023
RICHARD PAUL KLEIN NAVY 1948-1952; KOREAN WAR
MICHAEL ADAM LEVISON AIR FORCE 1991-2022 DECEASED 7/16/2022
KENNETH W. MEYER NAVY 1957-1967 DECEASED 9/22/2023
