State Heroes

Private First Class Donald Jean Soby

Rugby, ND

Vietnam Conflict

Branch of Service: Army

Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Company C

Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent:1st Battalion

Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent:101st Airborne Division

Date of Loss: July 07, 1967 / Age: 20

Killed in action in Quang Ngai, South Vietnam through hostile small arms fire. 

Private First Class Garry Dean Klein

Mott, ND

Vietnam Conflict

Branch of Service: Marines

Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Company A

Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent:1st Battalion

Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent:3rd Marine Division

Date of Loss: May 27, 1967 / Age: 20

PFC Klein was Killed in Action in Quang Tri, South Vietnam from hostile artillery rocket mortar. 

Specialist 4 Fabian E. Black Jr.

Vietnam Conflict

Branch of Service: Army

Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Headquarters Battery

Date of Loss: February 04, 1967 / Age: 23

Died in service in Fort George Meade, Maryland. 

Command Sergeant Major Laurence Cris Zietlow

New Salem, ND

Vietnam Conflict

Branch of Service: Army

Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Headquarters Company

Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent:1st Field Force

Date of Loss: October 03, 1967 / Age: 39

On September 17, 1967, SGM Zietlow of I Field Force and a SSG Wright from the 124th Transportation Command were mortally wounded in a terrorist attack in a Noncommissioned Officer's Club in Nha Trang, Vietnam. SGM Laurence C.

Corporal Gerald Allen Iverson

Oakes, ND

Vietnam Conflict

Branch of Service: Army

Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Battery A

Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent:1st Battalion

Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent:9th Infantry Division

Date of Loss: November 01, 1967 / Age: 20

Killed in action in Dinh Tuong, South Vietnam through hostile action by fragmentation wounds. 

1st Lieutenant Robert Joy Sime

Tolna, ND

Vietnam Conflict

Branch of Service: Army

Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Company B

Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent:5th Battalion

Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent:1st Calvary Division

Date of Loss: October 23, 1967 / Age: 27

On October 23, during Operation WALLOWA the enemy were encountered some 7 kilometers east of Thang Binh in Quang Tin Province. During the ensuing fire fight 1stLt Sime was killed in action by hostile small arms fire.

Constructionman Melvin Edward Johnson

Vietnam Conflict

Branch of Service: Navy

Date of Loss: October 08, 1967 / Age: 21

Died in service in Thua Thien, South Vietnam in non-hostile action in an air crash in a fixed wing. 

Lieutenant Colonel Gordon James Wenaas

Mayville, ND

Vietnam Conflict

Branch of Service: Air Force

Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent:314th Tactical Airlift Wing

Date of Loss: December 29, 1967 / Age: 46

On December 29, 1967, he was a crew member of a Lockheed Hercules Transport Aircraft (C-130E) on a mission in the extreme northwest corner of North Vietnam over Lai Chau Province, when contact was lost. 

Private First Class Cleo Larry Levang

Vietnam Conflict

Branch of Service: Marines

Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Company I

Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent:3rd Battalion

Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent:1st Marine Division

Date of Loss: January 05, 1967 / Age: 20

At a defense position on Hill 65 in the Dai Loc District of Quang Nam Province in a bunker there was an accidental detonation of a M26A1 hand grenade that wounded one man, and resulted in the death of PFC Levang by the multiple fragmentation wounds he

Private First Class Murray Dean Vidler

Fargo, ND

Vietnam Conflict

Branch of Service: Marines

Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Company M

Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent:3rd Battalion

Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent:1st Marine Division

Date of Loss: December 19, 1967 / Age: 21

On December 19, while crossing a rice paddy in the vicinity of Dong Tien in an area of Dien Ban District in Quang Nam Province known as "Dodge City" a patrol of Marines were hit with enemy sniper fire followed by a automatic weapons fire and volleys of

Corporal Lawrence Dean Brownotter

Vietnam Conflict

Branch of Service: Army

Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Headquarters Company

Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent:5th Battalion

Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent:9th Infantry Division

Date of Loss: November 18, 1967 / Age: 22

Killed in action in Dinh Tuong, South Vietnam from multiple fragmentation wounds. 

Private First Class Kenyon Elroy Bean

Williston, ND

Vietnam Conflict

Branch of Service: Army

Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Company A

Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent:1st Battalion

Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent:25th Infantry Division

Date of Loss: May 19, 1967 / Age: 20

As PFC Bean's platoon advanced, it was fired upon by a Viet Cong force estimated at battalion size. The fire came from a system of strongly fortified bunkers, and was so intense that the platoon could not maneuver.

Private First Class Allen Wayne Porter

Carson, ND

Vietnam Conflict

Branch of Service: Army

Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Headquarters Company

Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent:2nd Battalion

Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent:101st Airborne Division

Date of Loss: April 09, 1967 / Age: 20

Died in service in Quang Nam, South Vietnam through non-hostile accident. 

Specialist 5 Gerald Lee Larson

Vietnam Conflict

Branch of Service: Army

Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: 97th Transportation Company

Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent:10th Transportation Battalion

Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent:124th Transportation Command

Date of Loss: February 05, 1967 / Age: 36

On February 5, 1967, Larson reportedly was sitting on a beach beside an anchor when the cable snapped, hitting him in the head. He sustained fatal injuries in the incident.

Lance Corporal Stephen John Eichelberger

Fargo, ND

Vietnam Conflict

Branch of Service: Marines

Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Company F

Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent:2nd Battalion

Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent:3rd Marine Division

Date of Loss: May 16, 1967 / Age: 20

Killed in action in Quang Tri, South Vietnam in hostile action through small arms fire. 

Sergeant Fred Leroy Johnson

Leeds, ND

Vietnam Conflict

Branch of Service: Army

Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent: Troop D

Battalion / Task Group / Squadron or equivalent:1st Squadron

Division / Fleet / Air Force or Equivalent:1st Cavalry Division

Date of Loss: January 20, 1967 / Age: 27

Killed in action in Binh Dinh, South Vietnam through hostile action by an explosive device.