ND Veterans Affairs News: State

"Over here in Iraq, we are doing an important job, trying to secure a better future for the people of Iraq," Smette said in a letter dated Christmas Eve. "I think it's going to be great to be a part of this whole experience," Smette wrote in a letter to his family last year. "I really feel as though we are helping the world, and most importantly, the Iraqi people. I just hope they feel the same way." Smette volunteered to go to Iraq in January 2003 and withdrew from classes at NDSU that February. His sister, Sarah, who now lives in Wisconsin, served in the Army.

Staff Sgt. Hendrickson and his wife, Reane, were married just four days before he was deployed. His son, Trevor, was a high school senior in Bismarck. Kenneth Hendrickson could get a group of people to skip on their way home from a restaurant or dance in their seats during a long road trip. He was willing to try almost anything and believed in having fun, said his wife, Reane. His son, Trevor, said Hendrickson always set aside "guy time" for them and was at ease with Trevor's high school friends. "He was really a big kid to me," Trevor said.

Pfc. Hawk Eagle grew up in Eagle Butte, SD but enlisted in the Army at Grand Forks, N.D. His parents are deceased but Hawk Eagle still has many friends and relatives in Eagle Butte, where he graduated from high school in 2001. To his friends in the Army, he was known as Sheldon Hawk Eagle. To his family and fellow tribe members, he was also remembered with a proud Lakota name: Wanbli Ohitika Brave Eagle. A member of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe, Pfc.

"I was so proud of him," Liz Sweet, Sgt. Sweet's mother said. "I loved him dearly for his compassion." "He was a good guy, quiet, he worked pretty hard," said Sgt. Dennis Robinson, who served alongside Sweet in Iraq. "He would make jokes about the hard times, everyday stress. He would make it fun." Compiled from Associated Press reports. Retrieved 10/01/2013 from "Honor the Fallen." Army Sgt. Thomas J. Sweet II| Military Times

Thomas Earl "Tom" Alderson was born in Lakota, Nelson County, North Dakota on October 9, 1941, and later moved to Grand Forks, North Dakota. He graduated from Grand Forks Central High School in 1959 and attended the University of North Dakota. He earned his dental degree (DDS) from the University of Minnesota in June 1966. He was married to Marika Mosely.

He is buried in Saint Jerome's Catholic Church - Fort Totten, ND.

He is buried in Finley Cemetery - Finley, ND.

He is buried in Mandan Union Cemetery - Mandan, ND.

Ernest E. Bartolina was born on December 29, 1942, in Bismarck, Burleigh County, North Dakota, to Ernest and Kathryn Bartolina. He married Susan Cartwright on February 28, 1964. 

On February 7, 1969, Captain Bartolina was the crew as Pilot of the CH-46D Sea Knight helicopter #BU-153334 taking part in a medevac mission in Guang Nam province, in an area known as Arizona Territory. While starting to descend, they were hit by enemy automatic weapons fire and crashed in a rice paddy. Six of the men aboard were killed. 

He is buried in Hannover Cemetery - Hannover, ND